


Wolfram and Yuuri's Adventures in Otherland

by ChessSilven



Category: Alice in Wonderland - Fandom, Kyo Kara Maoh, Through the Looking Glass - Fandom
Genre: Possible Romantic Content, Possibly Out of Character, Some Swearing, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-21 10:01:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3688023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChessSilven/pseuds/ChessSilven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anissina goads Yuuri into jumping through a mirror-like invention, Wolfram following along after him. When they come out they're in another land, and Yuuri is apparently unable to create a portal back to Shin Makuko. Will they ever get back to Blood Pledge Castle? Explore Otherland with the royal couple as they blunder through, meeting people with extraordinary powers, talking animals, and huge lavishly decorated structures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Normal Day in the Life of Wolfram

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't exactly the beginning of the plot, but this is where my story starts.  
> Everyone reading: "Uh... you think?"  
> Chess: "Not very often, but yes!"  
> Everybody reading: headslap  
> Chess: "Ha-ha, made you hit yourself!"  
> Everybody reading: Eye twitch, grab very sharp weapons  
> Chess: "Ah... I don't own Kyo Kara Maoh, Alice in Wonderland, or Through the Looking Glass... Enjoy!"

Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld, the third and youngest son of Lady Celi von Spitzburg the ex-queen of Shin Makuko, strode purposefully through the stone halls of Blood Pledge Castle. He was headed towards the gardens, where his reluctant fiancé, Yuuri Shibuya, the twenty-seventh Maou and one of the most powerful magic-users in the kingdom, was apparently hiding from his instructor, Lord Günter von Chrìst. Wolfram had almost reached the gardens, when…  
“Papa?”  
“Yes, Greta?” Wolfram replied, halting to turn and smile at the young girl. Greta was Wolfram and Yuuri’s adopted daughter, though in Wolfram’s opinion Yuuri mostly acted like a brother to the little girl instead of a father.  
“Have you seen Daddy?” Greta’s brown eyes looked up at him hopefully.  
“I haven’t seen him, but I heard one of the maids saying that he was in the gardens. I was actually on my way there now. Would you care to join me?”  
Greta nodded, and together they walked the last little ways into the gardens.  
_The gardens are beautiful today._ Wolfram thought to himself, enjoying the warmth of the sun that was soaking into his skin. It called to the fire maryoku within him, and he had to concentrate to keep himself from summoning the hot element. Wolfram was tempted to sprawl out on one of the benches that dotted the pretty park-like area, and just absorb as much of the delightful heat as he could, but two things stopped him. The first reason was; that would be undignified thing for a lord and soldier to do, and two; he could see Yuuri. His ridiculous fiancé was hiding behind a tree, apparently unaware that his elbows and knees were sticking out from either side of the somewhat skinny tree.  
Shaking his head briefly at the foolishness of the other teen, Wolfram coughed. A black-haired head tipped out slowly from one side of the tree, large raven eyes peeking out cautiously before the maou stepped out from behind the tree, a sheepish grin on his face. “Oh. Hey, guys. I thought you were Günt- uh, someone else.”  
Greta grinned. “Were you hiding from Günter again?”  
Yuuri’s sheepish grin grew wider. “Well, yeah.”  
Wolfram battled amused scorn that even little Greta could see through Yuuri, and irritation that Yuuri had, once again, run away from his lessons. The second emotion won out, and Wolfram frowned at the young maou. “Wimp.”  
Yuuri’s grin turned into a slight pout. “Don’t call me that. I held out as long as I could, but Günter’s lessons are so boring!”  
Wolfram rolled his green eyes. “So you’re calling our history ‘boring’?”  
Yuuri nodded. Then, as emerald eyes narrowed in his direction, he hastily shook his head. “No! No, not at all! I was just saying that the way Günter teaches history is boring!”  
Wolfram was about to continue the argument, when all three heard, “HEIKA! YOUR MAJESTY, WHERE ARE YOU? WE SIMPLY MUST CONTINUE OUR LESSON! HEIKA?”  
Yuuri’s face drained, and he looked pleadingly at Wolfram, black eyes huge. “Wolf, please…”  
Wolfram felt his will drain, and sighed in defeat. “Fine. But just this once!”  
“Thanks, Wolfram!” Yuuri scrambled to hide behind the tree again.  
Shaking his head at himself, Wolfram calmly walked back into the castle, Greta at his side. A moment later, a man in white robes came flying down the hall, moaning, “Your Majesty, why do you scorn your loyal servant so?”  
Günter was a tall man with long silver hair and pale violet eyes. “Hello Greta, Wolfram. Oh, whatever shall I do? My precious Heika vanished during our lessons, and I cannot seem to find him anywhere!”  
“I think Daddy was hiding in the library.” Greta offered, putting on an adorably innocent face.  
“Oh, thank you! YOUR MAJESTY, I SHALL BE BY YOUR SIDE SHORTLY!” Günter wailed as he dashed off. Wolfram looked down at Greta, one eyebrow raised.  
“’In the library’?”  
“Well, he was. That’s where I went first. The librarian said that he had been hiding in a corner for a while, then he snuck out the back.”  
Wolfram smiled at Greta, then they went back to the gardens. The three played together for a while, until another tall man walked into the gardens. This man had short brown hair and eyes, and was wearing a gray uniform. “Oh, so that’s where you went, Your Majesty. Hello Wolfram, Greta.”  
“Lord Weller.” Wolfram replied. Lord Conrad Weller was one of Wolfram’s two older brothers, and was only half Mazuko.  
“Conrad,” Yuuri said, slightly irritated. “You’re my godfather. You gave me my name, so don’t call me ‘your majesty’.”  
“As you wish, Yuuri.”  
Wolfram felt like rolling his eyes again, but refrained himself. Every time Yuuri and Conrad met, that whole scene played out again. _It’s starting to get on my nerves._  
“You know, Yuuri, Günter is getting pretty frantic. You shouldn’t skip out on your lessons so often.” Conrad reprimanded gently, the ever-present soft smile on his face.  
“Come on, Conrad.” Yuuri whined. Wolfram leaned against one of the benches, falling into the state between being conscious and asleep.  
Before he knew it, Yuuri’s voice broke into his peaceful state. “Hey, Wolfram! You awake?”  
“I am now, wimp.” Wolfram groaned, stretching. Getting to his feet, he offered Yuuri a hand up before brushing the dirt off of his blue uniform, straightening his jacket, and tugging his cuffs back into place.  
Supper was somewhat stressful, Günter having found Wolfram, Yuuri, Greta and Conrad all together in the garden and coming to the conclusion that they had ganged up on him to keep his ‘precious highness away from his poor loyal servant Günter’, then sulking through the entire meal, despite Conrad and Yuuri’s apologies. _Technically he was right. Only Conrad had meant to return Yuuri to his studies._ Wolfram sighed, taking a sip of wine. _I had meant to drag Yuuri back to Günter for his lessons, but then Yuuri had to go and pull that puppy-dog face on me!_ Scowling, Wolfram set the goblet back down. _Sometimes I wonder if Yuuri knows how tightly he has me wrapped around his little finger. Not only is he the king, which means I owe him my loyalty, but he is also my fiancé, which means that he owns the rest of me as well._ Wolfram sighed again. Oh, who am I kidding? I may have started out owing him my body and loyalty, but over time, watching his kindness and generosity made me freely give him my love and soul. It’s just my own bad luck that the one person that doesn’t want me for my looks, body, power, connections or money doesn’t want me for anything more than a friend.  
Wolfram’s grip on the goblet tightened. _I guess it could be worse, he could finally annul our engagement and get engaged to some girl. Or even worse, he could be just like the majority of the people in the world and take advantage of my love, then discard me when he’s taken whatever it was that he wanted. Not that I would stop him if he ever did do that._  
“Wolf dear, would you pass me the rolls, please?” His mother’s cheery voice broke into Wolfram’s dark thoughts. He passed the small basket to Lady Cheri, an ample bosomed gorgeous blonde with green eyes. Wolfram had gotten his looks from his mother, something that was as much of a curse as a blessing. She was on a quest for love, and along the way had discovered a love for fixing others up with love. In fact, Wolfram and Yuuri’s engagement was her doing, something she was very proud of.  
Wolfram knew that his mother only wanted him to be happy, but sometimes she had a very stressful way of giving him happiness.  
After dinner, Wolfram washed up in his room, pulling a frilly pink nightgown out of his closet. Scowling at the eyesore, he quickly put it on before he could change his mind. He much preferred his original pajamas, sensible gray cotton top and bottoms, and hadn’t even had the pink… thing, in his wardrobe until a year or so ago when Yuuri had proposed to him by slapping Wolfram. Of course, the wimp hadn’t known what he was doing, but still the engagement had stood.  
As the one being slapped, Wolfram had essentially been forced into the less dominant role, something that irked him to no end.  
_Mother took me aside the night after our dual and gave me this frilly monstrosity, informing me that since Yuuri preferred girls, it was my duty to be as womanly as possible, if nowhere else except for in bed. I had expected the worst that night, used to having women and men slobbering over the very idea of having just me in their beds, not to mention in something like_ that. Wolfram shuddered. _But instead, Yuuri freaked out, kicking me out of the room. The snickers and ravenous looks from the guards had been humiliating, but Yuuri himself had fascinated me. So I snuck back into Yuuri’s room using a secret passage between my room and the maou’s, which had been built so that the Maou could sneak lovers into his royal bedchambers without being caught._  
_I’m still not sure how I ended up with the room, seeing as how I’ve had it since I was a baby, but it had worked to my advantage that time. I quietly got into the bed and fell asleep, still fully expecting to become the maou’s plaything by the morning, but nothing happened. Well, except for me kicking the king out of his own bed._ Wolfram winced at the memory. _I had forgotten about how much I toss and turn, after all, most of the time I slept alone. When Yuuri woke me up by freaking out yet again,_ “Wimp,” Wolfram muttered. _I was terrified that I was about to be killed or banished or… something, so I did what I was trained by the army to do; I ignored my fear and mocked the Maou. Alright, so the army didn’t actually train me to mock the maou, but they did say that if you’re about to be killed or tortured by the enemy, you have two options; stay strong and silent, or mock your enemy to distract yourself. Of course, there was the third option of cracking under the pressure and betraying your training and king, but they didn’t really endorse that choice. Anyhow, I was petrified inside by the time that I had finished, after all, Yuuri had already proved that he had far more powerful magic than me, and that’s really saying something, not to mention the fact that he was the king, and I had just; snuck back into his bedroom after he had thrown me out, kicked him out of his bed, and to top it all off, mouthed off to him!_  
_So I was totally unprepared for him just complaining at me and whining for me to not call him a wimp. Mother made sure to remind me of my duty as his fiancé for the next week or so, until I finally decided to just go with it and enjoy irritating Yuuri, since by then I had gotten the fact that he wasn’t planning on doing anything with me. But after a few months of falling for him, watching him help others with no regard for himself, well, I began to half hope that one day he would actually want me there instead of wishing that I wasn’t. Wolfram sighed, pushing the hidden spot on the wall, opening the secret door and walking through. Oh well. At least he doesn’t complain as much as he used to about me sleeping with him._  
When Wolfram got into Yuuri’s room, the wall slid shut behind him. He noticed that Yuuri wasn’t there, and shrugged, figuring that he was still bathing, climbing into the bed, cursing silently at the dratted nightgown as it slid up, and pushed it back down. _How do women wear these?_ Wolfram quickly fell asleep, having pleasant dreams for once, dreams of a true, happy family.


	2. Wolfram's Training Method

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will start the plot, I think.  
> Wolfram: "Hurry up already, wimp!"  
> Chess: "I'm working on it!"
> 
> Disclaimer; I don't own Kyo Kara Maoh, Alice in Wonderland, or Through the Looking Glass.
> 
> Wolfram: sneering, "That's quite obvious by the way that you're butchering our stories."  
> Chess: scowling,"Shut up."

THUD.   
“Owww! Wolfram… Wake up, please!” Wolfram ignored the annoying voice, turning over to get more comfortable. “Wolf, come on.” Wolfram pulled a pillow over his head, muffling the distracting sound. A pair of hands wrestled the pillow off of his head, and the persistant voice continued. “Wolf, wake up!”   
Wolfram cracked open an eye, his military training forcing his unconscious, and most of the time his conscious, to obey commands. “What do you want, Yuuri?”Wolfram croaked, his throat dry.  
“You to stop kicking me out of bed, for one,” Yuuri’s annoyed voice said. “That hurts!”  
“Only ‘cause you’re such a wimp,” Wolfram yawned, sitting up.   
“Stop calling me that!”  
Wolfram ignored Yuuri, staggering over to the closet. He refused to reveal how he kept getting past Yuuri’s guards, and it had gotten to the point of total humiliation to walk out of Yuuri’s room in that pink nightgown, so Wolfram had begun to store a few of his uniforms in Yuuri’s closet. It had taken about two weeks for the young maou to give up and stop returning the uniforms to Wolfram’s room, but it was worth the time. Wolfram pulled one of the starched uniforms off of their hanger, stumbling sleepily towards the bathroom.   
Splashing some cold water on his face woke him up, his fire magic screeching in displeasure at the contrasting element. Wolfram winced slightly, then ignored the faint discomfort, combing his gold hair and changing into his uniform. By the time he got out, he felt far more like himself.  
Yuuri was gone, out running with Conrad. Wolfram smoothed his hair back, and stepped out of the room, his stride crisp. Outside the room, the guards snapped to attention. “Good morning, Lord Bielefeld.”  
“Good morning.”  
After a quick breakfast, Wolfram excused himself from the table, marching out to where his soldiers were waiting. For the next few hours, he trained them mercilessly with the sword, bow, and maryoku, not accepting anything but the best that each of his men could give. Then, when they had reached the end of the day’s training, a messenger rode up, horse and rider covered in dust and sweat. “Lord Bielefeld! One of the human villages is under attack by enemy fire mazoku and humans!”   
Most of his soldiers had fire magic, the few remaining having earth or air. Wolfram knew that he was one of the maybe seven or eight strongest mazoku in the land, Yuuri included, even though he had to be in his Maou state to use it, so far. So when he pushed them to the limit, like he was about to do, he expected them to be better than him, or at the very least as good as him. “Mount up!” he roared, and his soldiers scrambled to get their horses ready. Wolfram quickly strode to his mount, strapping on the saddle with swift, efficient moves. When the saddle was secured firmly, he easily swung himself up and into the seat, grasping the reins firmly. When the rest of his small army was ready, they followed the messenger back out, riding hard.  
When the town was close enough that the riders could see the rogue mazuko, Wolfram spoke, his tone calm and commanding.   
“Alright. For the final exercise today, the goal will be to incapacitate the criminals. It would be preferable to capture them alive, but if it is a choice between their lives or yours, choose yours.” His men nodded bleakly. “Think you can do that?”   
“Yes, sir!” The soldiers barked, making Wolfram nod in approval, his green eyes fierce, anticipating the challenge.   
“Henderson.”  
“Yessir!”  
“Count down from ten.”  
“Yessir!”  
Wolfram embraced his fire magic, hearing the phrase that helped him unleash his full power as the soldier counted down, watching as the rest of his soldiers muttered the same words.   
“Ten!”  
“Hear me,”  
“Nine!”  
“all particles”   
“Eight!”  
“that make up the element”  
“Seven!”  
“of flame,”  
“Six!”  
Wolfram lithely vaulted from his horses back, the rest of his soldiers following suit.  
“Five!”  
“Obey this proud Mazoku,”  
“Four!”  
“who summons you!”   
“Three!”  
Wolfram felt a rush as fire crackled into life around his hands, the warmth comforting and strengthening him as it hissed and spat at the bandits like an angry cat.  
“Two!”  
Wolfram concentrated, and felt fire flare up in a huge blue wall around the bandits, sealing them in with Wolfram and his men.  
“ONE!”  
Wolfram’s lion roared into existence a second later, snarling at the weaker fire beings that the enemy mazoku had created. He concentrated harder, and his lion slashed a paw through the other flame forms, effectively annihilating them. Wolfram chuckled grimly, his emerald eyes as cold as the actual gems. “You’re going to have to do better than that,” he called, his lion roaring in agreement. A ripple shuddered over the ground, making Wolfram almost lose his footing, but he managed to stay standing. _That’s not good. They must have an earth mazoku._ Wolfram grunted with effort, keeping his wall up and his lion steady as he conjured up a few fire balls, tossing them towards the bandits, hoping that he or one of his men would knock out the earth mazoku, as other fireballs roared past him.  
The ground quit trembling, but Wolfram was now getting tired. _I can’t let myself give up, or my men will never let me hear the end of it. Not to mention I’ll probably die._ Wolfram growled, his lion rumbling along with him, and pulled his fire wall in, forcing the bandits to jump forward or get scorched.   
A thin wall of flame suddenly crackled towards him, and this time it was Wolfram who had to jump back, the rogues cackling. _That’s just wonderful._ Wolfram punched at the rogues’ fire wall, his exhaustion forcing him to add physical motions with his maryoku to get the most powerful reaction. His soldiers were not the only ones that Wolfram was pushing to the limit. As his fist flew, some of the wall flew with it. He punched out about ten or so fireballs from the rouges’ wall, before smoothly pivoting in a circle, sending out a lash of flame. Wolfram winced before he could help it, and forced the wall out towards the rogues that summoned it, their eyes widening in horror. At the same time he pulled his wall in again, but this time he let it go out after a moment. That alleviated some of his stress, but Wolfram still felt drained. Ignoring that, he looked around at his men. To his dismay, they weren’t doing much better, with a few out cold on the ground.  
His lion patiently waiting for instruction, Wolfram gulped in a breath, sweat trickling down his back and face. He absently dashed the trickles away, then stiffened his spine, pushing his exhaustion away for later.   
“Attack,” he ordered, and the enemy mazokus’ expressions went from weariness and anticipation, to panic and resolve. Wolfram’s lion roared in approval, crouching in mid-air before pouncing towards Wolfram’s enemies. The other mazuko threw a huge collective fireball at the flame lion, and Wolfram watched in shock and despair as the huge fireball tore through the lion, leaving nothing but small gasps of flame that dissolved into the air as they watched.   
Wolfram staggered slightly, exhaustion announcing its presence again, but once again he smothered it. He could tell that his men, the few that are still conscious, anyhow, didn’t have any maryoku left, but he still had a trickle. He just had to use it wisely. Fortunately, destroying Wolfram’s lion seemed to have used up the last of the enemy mazuko’s magic as well, the fire mazuko collapsing.  
The enemy humans drew their swords, Wolfram mirroring them. As they charged him, he took a deep breath, steadying himself. Wolfram managed to deflect the first five blows, but the sixth managed to get under his defence, leaving a deep slash up his side. Wolfram gasped lightly, before flicking a sword out of one of the bandit’s grasp. Stumbling back, he tripped on a stump of grass, falling hard to the ground. The few men of his that were still conscious were fighting the bandits with all they had, but one by one they were being thrown aside. Snarling, Wolfram summoned the last flicker of maryoku that he had, creating a blast of fire that blew the rogues back ten feet. Cursing, he painfully got to his feet, hauling his sword up into a defensive position, when he felt the point of a blade against his back.  
“Drop the sword.”  
Wolfram stiffened, thinking a whole slew of curses, and considered attempting to attack the human anyway. Suddenly the human slashed the blade forward, the blade sinking a full inch into Wolfram’s back. He groaned in agony, unable to hold it in, and dropped his sword.  
Wolfram coughed, blood spattering his fist. _Damn it, I hate it when I get to this point. Gisela is going to kill me._  
He felt the sword drop, carving another gash into his back. Turning, he saw one of his soldiers. “Thanks,” he said, attempting a smile that ended up as more of a grimace.   
“My pleasure, sir.”  
Wolfram and his soldier began tying up the bandits, shoving them none too gently into the local jail. By the time that they had finished, the rest of Wolfram’s men had woken up, and the rest of the fires had been put out.  
Riding back to the castle was a torturous affair, every slice and gash throbbing in agony with each bounce. Wolfram managed to keep the pain on his face to a minimum, hiding his pain as best as he could from his soldiers.  
When they finally got back to the castle, Wolfram gently slid down from the saddle, gasping at the impact as his feet hit the ground. Ignoring his anguish, he strode over to the soldier that had saved his life.  
He grinned despite his pain, and slapped the boy on his shoulder. “Well done.”  
Turning to the rest of his small army, he raised his voice, his grin widening. “Well done, all of you!” Pride was plain in his voice, though there was an undercurrent of pain.  
His men roared in approval.  
Wolfram advised them, “Go and have your injuries taken care of, and go to bed. Dismissed!”  
“Yessir!” the boys saluted as one, then walked off.  
Wolfram started walking towards the medical chambers and staggered, almost falling to the ground. Shaking his head foggily, he ignored his sudden, throbbing headache and stumbled along. When he finally got to the medical chambers, Gisela von Christ, Günter’s adopted daughter and the head nurse, was waiting for him. He half-listened to her scolding as he staggered toward a bed, his legs crumpling beneath him just before he made it.  
“Lord Bielefeld!”  
Gisela caught him before he hit the floor. _Shinou, she’s strong. I, on the other hand, am not as lucky in that regard, at least for the moment._  
“Wolfram, can you hear me?” Gisela’s worry-filled eyes caught Wolfram’s wavering attention. He nodded and coughed, tasting blood. “I’m going to try and lend you some of my maryoku. I need you to accept it. Do you understand?”  
Wolfram chuckled softly, finding the fact that the daughter of Günter with whom he was on rocky relations with, was so concerned for him while Yuuri, _his freaking fiancé for Shinou’s sake,_ probably couldn’t care less, hilarious. His soft chuckles turned into a full throated laugh, his head light. Suddenly Wolfram gasped, blood gushing through his throat, choking him. He gagged, body bucking.   
“Dacascos, hold his legs steady.”  
“YES MA’AM!”  
AGONY.   
“Wolfram! Look at me now!” Wolfram’s pain-filled eyes flickered towards her face. _Don’t you just love military training?_ “Can you nod?” Wolfram choked, stiffening in pain, and nodded. “That’s good, now you need to accept some of my maryoku, understand?” Wolfram nodded and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. A moment later he felt her gentle maryoku caress his skin, trying to get to his normally fiery core, and he mentally opened a tunnel to allow her magic in. “You’re doing great. Now you have to concentrate” _What in Shinou’s name do you think I’ve been doing?!_ “on keeping your spark of maryoku going. The magic that I’ve just given you should help.”  
Wolfram’s vision was beginning to blacken around the edges from the lack of oxygen, and his mind was dulling, but he fought against the cold numbness of unconsciousness and guided the small flare of Gisela’s maryoku towards his core. Once he got there, he was shocked; where a fiery tempest once roared, there was only cold embers and a growing frost, slowly freezing its way to the very center of his being. He rooted around, searching desperately for a flash, a glimmer, a glow, for something, for anything. Finally Wolfram found what he was looking for; a tiny glowing ember, all that was left of his maryoku. _Wait, this can’t be correct._ Shaking the uneasy thought off he took out the tendril of Gisela’s magic, setting it against his own ember and blowing, hoping that it would catch, the cold working icy fingers into Wolfram’s imaginary legs.   
For the longest moment of his life, the ember seemed to die out, the glow dulling until it was almost nonexistent, and then it flared up brighter than before, a small flame dancing around the small ember. The flame licked at Gisela’s maryoku, seeming to taste the gentle healer’s magic, then in a sudden flicker, both maryoku blazed with a strong fire. It was a small fire, to be sure, but a very strong fire, burning back the frost and warming Wolfram. And with all of these embers, it should be back to its normal fury in a few days.   
Wolfram opened his eyes and sat up with a start, gasping for breath as all of his wounds screamed at once at his sudden movement.   
“It’s okay, just relax Wolfram.” Gisela’s soothing voice murmured in his ear. “Go to sleep, and by the time you wake back up, I should have you mostly patched up. Just sleep.” Wolfram started to protest, but Gisela gently pushed him back down, lightly placing a hand on his forehead. As her soft maryoku slipped him away into dreams, he faintly whispered, “The bandits must have used esoteric stones in their attack, m-my men…”  
Then he slipped into unconsciousness, a welcoming darkness that offered relief and comfort.


	3. Through Anissina's Invention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Can't think of anything to write-  
> Wolfram: You wimp, you are writing!  
> Chess: Shut up.  
> Wolfram: Make me! draws sword  
> Chess: Alright... writes Wolfram bound and gagged... How's that?  
> Wolfram: Mmm mmm mmmph!  
> Chess: winks at readers... See, the pen-ah... keyboard, really is stronger than the sword!  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kyo Kara Maoh, Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, or {just to cover all bases} Alice in the Country of Heart. All I own is my weirdo imagination, my odd created characters, {you should know them when you see them} and this plot. Sigh...

“All you have to do is step through,” Anissina assured Yuuri, demonstrating by poking the mirror surface. The surface dipped slightly as it resisted, then let Anissina’s finger slide smoothly through, disappearing into who knows where before she pulled it back out. “Go on.”  
Wolfram thought fast, stepping in between Anissina and her intended victim. “If it’s supposed to help mazoku get to Earth without the maou or Shinou’s help, then why is Yuuri the perfect test subject? It seems like that kind of defeats the purpose.”  
Anissina grinned, and Wolfram felt shivers run up his spine. “That’s why you two will be going in together! That way, if you only get transported somewhere in Shin Makoku, you can protect his majesty, and if you do get transported to Earth, then he can get you back here!”  
“Wait… what? Isn’t your devise made to take you back and forth through worlds?”  
“Well how am I supposed to make a portal on that side if I can’t get there? No, this only goes one way.”  
_I guess that means she was just planning on leaving poor Gwendal stranded over there, wherever that is._ “This is a bad idea, Yuuri.”  
Yuuri shot him a no, really? look before grinning at Anissina. “Sorry, you heard Wolfram, plus I really need to get to lunch.”  
_Gee, thanks. You wimp._  
“I guess you really are a wimp.” Anissina said innocently.  
Yuuri’s face darkened. “Only one person is allowed to call me that, and you aren’t him.” Yuuri darted through the mirror before Wolfram could stop him, leaving only a reflection of a fair-haired teen in a cobalt uniform, a shocked expression on his handsome face.  
Wolfram snarled, “YOU WIMP!!!” leaping forward and through the mirror after Yuuri.  
It was a highly uncomfortable sensation for the young mazuko, rather like being submersed in mercury as it flowed around his body. Wolfram had to bite back a yelp as the ooze began to trickle into his ears and nose, while prodding at his mouth and eyes. He could feel it, creeping further and further inside his head, despite his desperate thrashing. The ooze finally managed to force its way into his mouth, gagging the teen as it went in, continuing on to stream down into his stomach. He jerked as it flowed around inside him, then suddenly something inside him cracked. His eyes flew open involuntarily, and the ooze coated them, shiny metallic fluid seeping into his eyes. Wolfram continued fighting, stubbornly refusing to yield. _If I die, I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you Yuuri._  
Abruptly, Wolfram could feel the constant pressure around him vanish, and he seemed to be hurtling through the air, hitting the ground hard.  
He groaned, or tried to groan, instead vomiting up some of the ooze. He did this several more times, until he could finally gasp for breath, airways unblocked at last. Wolfram froze in panic as he realized that there was still fluid in his ears and eyes, the metallic ooze having already dripped out of his nose. _How am I supposed to find Yuuri like this?_  
A hand forced him to tip his head, scaring Wolfram senseless. _Not that I haven’t already lost most of my senses._ Wolfram grabbed the hand, yanking it hard and somehow sensing his unknown attacker stumble forward, he used their momentum to slam them into the ground.  
“Wolf! Wolf, what the heck are you doing?” Yuuri’s unmistakable voice yelped, tiny at first but growing in decibel until Wolfram winced at the loud sound, feeling ooze dribble out of his ears.  
Hastily, Wolfram pulled Yuuri back up to his feet before losing his own balance and almost falling again, stopped by a helpful hand. “I’m fine!” Wolfram snapped, pushing the hand away and swaying unsteadily. “I don’t need your help.”  
“Wolfram, you were just puking up that mirror-stuff. You didn’t sound fine-“  
“If I were a wimp like you, then I wouldn’t be!” Wolfram intentionally used the disliked nickname, hoping it would distract Yuuri from the fact that he could barely stand on his feet.  
That might have even worked, if it weren’t for the fact that he completely lost his balance again, slamming into the ground for the second time in as many minutes. _I am going to kill Anissina when we get back._ “Anyhow, didn’t you have the same problem when you got out?” Wolfram asked as he struggled back up to his feet, brushing his uniform down to avoid looking at Yuuri.  
“No. I just stepped through, and here I was. We must be in a park somewhere, because I can’t see any buildings around. Are you sure you’re okay?”  
“Just fine.” Wolfram was not fine. _Why was I subjugated to that whole humiliating experience? And how in the hell am I supposed to protect Yuuri if I can’t see his attackers? Damn it! In the shape I’m in right now, I’d be lucky if I could even stay on my feet, let alone fight._ Wolfram didn’t curse out loud very often, his mother having expressed her deep displeasure of the practice, though he did curse more frequently in the privacy of his mind. Even there, however, he tried to respect his mother’s wishes and curse as little as possible, saving his oaths for when he was extremely agitated. Needless to say, Wolfram was extremely agitated at the moment.  
“Wolfram, look at me please.”  
_That wasn't an order, so there is no way that that is going to happen._  
“Wolfram…” He felt cool fingers slide under his chin, prodding it up. Wolfram stubbornly closed his eyes, refusing to show the wimp his blind eyes.  
“Wolfram, open your eyes now.” _Damn it wimp, why the hell couldn’t you just let me be like you usually do? But that was definitely an order, so…_  
Wolfram opened his eyes. As he did so, he heard Yuuri gasp, the fingers disappearing as the wimp stepped back. Wolfram abruptly shut his eyes, turning his face away as he flushed. “Just because I can’t see right now doesn’t mean that I can’t still scorch you, Yuuri!” He called up a ball of flame to demonstrate, the familiar warmth soothing. Suddenly, a brutal stabbing sensation slammed against his eyes, making him lose contact with his maryoku, the fireball dissipating into the air. The pain ebbed slowly, replaced by dread. _I might have been attacked by the ooze because of my fire magic. That would explain why Yuuri was able to go through so easily. But if I go through that amount of pain every time I try to use my maryoku, then…_ Wolfram shuddered at the thought, his fire as much a part of him as his hands or heart. _There’s no use worrying about something that might not be true. I might as well test to see,_ Wolfram sneered at his non-intentional mental pun, _if I’m correct or not._  
Wolfram held a hand up, pretending that he didn’t know that it was shaking slightly, hesitating for a moment before summoning another fireball.  
“NNnyhh!” Wolfram hissed, dropping to his knees and clapping a hand over his useless eyes, which had begun to screech with pain.  
“Wolfram! Are you okay?” Wolfram stiffened, having momentarily forgotten that the other boy was there. He carefully got to his feet, turning his head in the direction that he figured Yuuri was. “I told you I was fine, wimp. It was just a headache.” Wolfram had promised himself long ago that the only thing he would ever lie to the kindhearted maou about would be Wolfram’s well-being.  
“Really? ‘Cause it looks like you were in some serious pain there, bud.” The mysterious new voice came from the ground, about five feet away from where Wolfram and Yuuri were standing. Wolfram quickly stumbled between the voice and Yuuri, smoothly drawing his sword.  
“Wow. For not bein’ able to see diddly-squat, you sure got some gumption.” The voice was deep but youthful, so Wolfram figured that it belonged to a twenty-something year old, at least if they were on Earth. It also sounded like it was close to cracking up, something that was peeving Wolfram to no end.  
“Do I amuse you?” Wolfram asked, his voice cold, not letting his sword waver so much as an inch.  
“Yup.” Wolfram heard a grunt, then footsteps coming towards them.  
He raised the sword an inch, reminding the stranger that he was armed. The footsteps continued, apparently not worried in the least. “Don’t come any closer,” Wolfram warned.  
The stranger snickered, but Wolfram couldn’t hear any more footsteps. Then the stranger grunted again, and he heard Yuuri yelp in surprise behind him. “What’s wrong?” he asked, hating that he had to.  
Something crashed into him, and the next thing he knew, Wolfram was on his belly in the dirt, the stranger kneeling on his back. “Oh, your friend here was jest a little surprised that I could jump that high.” Wolfram snarled quietly as he felt his own sword pressed up against his neck. “Now, I _could_ jest kill you fellers here, but yer might wanna notice that I’m not. Now, kin I look at yer eyes while yer standin’, or do I have to keep yer down?”  
Wolfram growled, about to try and throw the stranger off of his back, when Yuuri spoke up. “Can you fix his eyes?”  
“I kin try, but that’s ‘bout all I kin promise right now.”  
“Wolfram, let him look at your eyes.”  
_Yet another order. He’s starting to act more and more kingly every day._ Wolfram sighed, the fight leaving him, and nodded. “Fine. Now let me up!”  
The stranger chuckled again. “As yer wish, bud.” The weight on his back disappeared, and Wolfram scrambled to his feet. “Let’s see yer peepers, shall we?”  
Wolfram raised an eyebrow at hearing his eyes described as ‘peepers’, but opened his eyes anyway. The stranger sucked in a breath, and a moment later, poked Wolfram in the eye. “Hey!”  
“Sorry.” The stranger actually sounded like he meant it, so Wolfram didn’t send a fireball his way. _Not that I could even if I wanted to._ “Hm, lesse what I’ve got. Hold still and don’t move!” Wolfram heard footsteps headed back to where he had first heard the voice.  
_Great, now even complete strangers are ordering me around._ Wolfram sighed, feeling depressed.  
“Don’t worry Wolf, you’ll have your eyesight back before you know it.” Yuuri’s I’m-really-worried-but-I-don’t-want-you-to-know voice was not what Wolfram was wanting to hear right now, but at least the wimp wasn’t off getting himself into trouble. Wolfram supposed that he should be grateful for that.  
“Who said I was worried? Wimp. I don’t need someone to hold my hand and tell me everything’s going to be alright.” _Though it is nice sometimes, at least when it’s you._  
“I’m not a wimp! I was just worried about you, but I guess that you don’t need me. I’ll just go somewhere else, and leave you alone, Lord Bielefeld.” Yuuri’s peeved voice faded as he walked off. Wolfram froze, hurt more than he cared to admit by Yuuri’s use of his title. He wanted to run after Yuuri and apologize, but unfortunately he had been ordered to stay where he was.  
“Yuuri, come back!” Wolfram was feeling worried, not having heard a single peep from the maou since their exchange a few minutes ago. He listened closely, but could only hear the bouncy footsteps of the stranger as he returned.  
“Ah, here we go, bud! Now make sure and breathe deep, that’s the trick.” Wolfram scowled, suspicious, but did as he was instructed. A strong blast of onion hit him, overpowering his nose, throat and tongue. He gagged, having had a secret hatred of onions since he was little, having been accused of crying over some toy being taken away when in fact his eyes had been watering from some freshly chopped onions that had been set nearby for whatever reason.  
Wolfram’s eyes stung, and he felt huge tears roll down his cheeks despite his best attempts to dash them away. He finally understood the stranger’s strategy when he felt his tears, thick blobs that stretched slightly as his hand tried to sweep them off. _The ooze is being washed out of my eyes by my tears!_ Wolfram began to rapidly blink, assisting the flow as best he could. After a few seconds, his sight began to come back, very spotty and still with a film of silvery gray, but he could see. About five minutes later, his eyes were completely clear, to Wolfram’s deep relief. “Thank you.” It was very rare that anyone got a genuine apology from Wolfram von Bielefeld, but this man had.  
Wolfram noticed that he had been correct; the man was in his lower twenties, with short white hair and reddish-orange eyes, wearing a slightly worn red vest, gray trousers, and a white overcoat and shirt. He was also wearing an odd white top hat, the top half having been split into two sections.  
“No problemo, bud. Say, where’d yer pal go?”  
Wolfram paled, turning to see that Yuuri had disappeared. “Damn it!” he cursed, before taking off in the direction Yuuri had been walking.  
“Did yer know that it’s pretty rude ter run off aforn yer introduce yerself?” The stranger was easily keeping pace with Wolfram, talking as casually as if they were sitting around. “My name’z Jack. Jack White.”  
“Wolfram von Bielefeld.” Wolfram replied, finally catching sight of Yuuri’s black uniform a few yards ahead.  
“Oooh, anutter noble, eh? I’m impressed.” Jack commented, still sticking to Wolfram’s side effortlessly. Wolfram was getting the nagging suspicion that this man could probably run circles around him all day without getting tired; an impressive feat considering the fact that Wolfram went through a grueling exercise routine each day to keep himself in prime condition.  
When they finally caught up with Yuuri, Wolfram gave his king a fearsome scowl, which usually made the wimp cower back. However, to his surprise, Yuuri held his ground this time. “How in the blazes am I supposed to protect you when you run off without me?”  
Yuuri scowled right back, sending a flicker of fear running through Wolfram. “I don’t care. That’s your problem, not mine. After all, didn’t you say that you didn’t want me holding your hand? If you’re supposed to be my protection, then it’s your job to keep an eye on me, not the other way around.”  
“Ooohhh!” Peter gasped comically, eyes flicking from one boy to the other. “I think I’ll step out for a bit; let yez talk, private-like.” He bounded off, quickly out of Wolfram’s sight.  
Wolfram was shifting between slight amusement that Yuuri had plucked up the courage to make a speech like that, fear that he had pushed the wimp too far, pain that the kind-hearted maou had looked and spoke with such venom to him, and the unnerving sinking feeling that Wolfram knew Yuuri was right. Sometimes he forgot that the gentle raven-haired boy was actually the maou, not just his fiancé. It happened very rarely, but it did happen. Wolfram struggled between apologizing or yelling back.  
Yuuri turned, scowling, about to storm away. Wolfram’s guilt won out, an even rarer occurrence, and he swallowed his pride, catching Yuuri’s arm. “I-I’m sorry, Yuuri.” He took a breath and rushed on, staring at the ground to avoid Yuuri’s glare. This meant that he didn’t see Yuuri’s scowl falter, his black eyes widening. “I shouldn’t have said the things I did back there, but I was…” Wolfram wrestled with himself a moment, hating what he was about to say. “I was…scared.” He didn’t notice Yuuri’s face pale, a look of intense guilt wiping over the other boy’s face as he continued on, green eyes still boring holes into the ground. “Not only was I blind, but I couldn’t use my maryoku. I felt like a failure. After all, I came through to protect you and there you were, having to take care of me. I couldn’t even stand by myself! And then, when you disappeared…” Wolfram, to his intense shame, felt tears trickling down his cheeks. He dashed them away quickly, hoping that Yuuri hadn’t noticed. “If anything had happened to you-” He broke off, feeling gentle arms slide hesitantly around him in a soft hug.  
“I’m so sorry, Wolf.”  
A wolf whistle sounded behind them, making both boys jump. Yuuri turned cherry red as he tripped in his haste to get away from Wolfram.  
“I see yer’ve made up.” Jack grinned and winked roguishly at Yuuri, who’s face instantly turned an even deeper shade of red than before.  
Wolfram smirked, ignoring the slight throb of his heart as Yuuri pushed himself further away, noting with some satisfaction that his wimp of a maou had returned.  
“This isn’t what it looked like!” Yuuri yelped, and Wolfram rolled his eyes. _Yup, definitely wimpy again._ “Oh!” Yuuri’s eyes lit up. “Would you mind telling us where this is?”  
“Sure. Yer on Hart lands.”  
“Silly question, but this is Earth, right?”  
“Eh?” Jack’s face was blank, eyes inquisitive. “Earth?”  
“If we’re not on Earth, then we must be in Shin Makuko, right?”  
Jack gave Yuuri a thoroughly confused look. “Look. Yer on Hart property in the Imajin Nation, which is on Otherland, I dunno how many times I gotter tell yez.”  
Yuuri sat down hard, and even Wolfram was slightly stunned. _Although I don’t know why, after all if there were already two separate worlds, there’s no reason for there not to be more._ Wolfram ignored his shock, turning his mind to a more pressing matter.  
“Jack, is there a lake or pond anywhere nearby?”  
Yuuri and Jack both looked at him like he was insane. “Ah, yeah. Right ‘round those trees there.”  
“Are you wanting to take a bath, Wolfram?”  
“No, I want to get home to scorch Anissina’s lab.” Wolfram crossed his arms, scowling. He could tell when the light came on in Yuuri’s head.  
“That’s genius, Wolf!” Yuuri grinned widely, then took off towards where Jack had pointed. Wolfram jumped to his feet, face turning red.  
“Don’t you dare leave without me, you wimp!”  
They quickly found the pool, its beautiful crystalline waters shining in the sun. “On three, okay? One…”  
Wolfram got ready to jump, grabbing Yuuri’s shoulder.  
“Two…”  
He tensed, tightening his grip.  
“Three!”  
They jumped, hitting the water with a splash a minute later. They began to sink, water coiling around them like the water dragons that the Maou was so fond of using.  
Then they bobbed right back up, soaked to the bone and no closer to Shin Makuko than they had been five minutes ago. “Yuuri, you wimp! Why the hell aren’t we home?”  
Wolfram glared at the black-clad boy, who was currently trying to get back to shore. He rolled his eyes at Yuuri’s ineptness, smirking as the young king spluttered in confusion, uselessly scrabbling at the bank of the small river in fruitless attempts to get out of the water. Wolfram finally took pity on Yuuri, swimming somewhat poorly over to the bank and pulling himself up before dragging his king out.  
Wolfram scowled darkly, shaking himself violently to get rid excess water. _Damn it, I hate, hate, hate getting drenched! Not only does it oppose my natural element, but it weighs me down for the next hour or so. Plus, now I’m really cold!_ He growled, then concentrated, summoning a fireball. _Well, at least those torturous swimming lessons Mother forced me through payed off._ Once he had started a fire, he dragged Yuuri over, plunking his fiancé down in front of it, ignoring his complaints. _It occurs to me that I ignore a lot of things._ He ignored that thought, kneeling next to the fire himself. Wolfram’s scowl lessened slightly as he absorbed the heat, almost becoming a small, satistfied smile, when… “So, did yez enjoy yer dip in th’ water?”  
Yuuri grinned sheepishly, wringing out his shirt. “I don’t understand why that didn’t work. After all, Wolf just proved that he could still use his maryoku here.”  
“His Mary what-what?”  
“um… Fire magic?”  
“Ah, yer magic expresses is’self through fire, mm? Nice.”  
Yuuri frowned sadly, running a hand through his hair. “If I can’t create a portal between worlds, then that means that we’re stuck here! That’s bad. I mean, everyone will be worried sick! Greta, Mom, Conrad, Gwendal, ugh, Günter will definitely be worried, Shori-”  
“I ‘as wondering if yez’d like to come talk to my masters, the Lord and Lady Hart.” Jack interrupted Yuuri's tirade, something that Wolfram was grateful for. Otherwise, his list probably could have gone on for hours. “They’d be as good of people ter start talkin’ to as any about findin’ a way back to yer world.”  
Yuuri brightened. “Yeah! That sounds fun, meeting new people. Where do they live?”  
Wolfram shook his head, silently disapproving of the rash decision, but not saying anything. _After all, what other option do we have?_  
“They live about a mile that way. We should be able ter make it there before two hours pass, if we head off now.”  
“Then let’s go!” Jack grinned widely before jumping about five feet straight up into the air and managing to flip midair before landing. Yuuri's jaw dropped, his obsidian eyes widening. "Um... wow. That was incredible!"  
"Mm? Oh. Yer see, while yez friend's magic shows though fire, here our magic appears through more... ah, inhuman, shall we say, ways."  
Wolfram wistfully glanced at the fire before snapping his fingers, the bright flames abruptly ripping to shreds and dissipating in the breeze. So, we’re going to Hart Castle. I hope that someone there will be able to send us home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chess: rubbing hands eagerly... The plot is afoot!  
> Foot: No, trust me, this is nothing like us.  
> Chess: scowl...  
> Foot: walks off...  
> Chess: looks around... Hello? Is anyone reading my story?  
> Crickets:Chirp chirp chirp ...leaving...  
> Chess: Pouts, tears welling up in eyes... Even the crickets I'm writing aren't interested in my story!... bursts into tears... Whahhhhhhh!  
> Wolfram: Can someone please review so that Chess will stop this? Honestly, Chess is wimpier than Yuuri. ...shakes head, patting Chess's back...  
> Chess: still sobbing... I should have the next chapter out soon, with some new characters. If anyone out there actually reads this and wants me to, I might write a couple of chapters from Yuuri's perspective.  
> Yuuri: Cool!


	4. The Hart Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolfram and Yuuri seem to have made an ally in Jack White, but will they lose him to the sword of a new mysterious stranger? Will they make it to the Hart Castle? And if they do, how will they be received?  
> Also, find out one reason why Wolfram hates Conrad's father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chess; sobbing... "No one has commented yet..."  
> Wolfram; rolling his eyes... "It could be worse, they could be flaming your work."  
> Chess; brightening... "You're right! Thanks, Wolf!"  
> Yozac; running into the room, waving a sheaf of papers... {sing-songy voice} "Your excellency! Look what I found! It's today's chapter."  
> Chess; eyes widening in alarm..."Don't!"  
> Wolfram; grabs papers, quickly reading through them face turning red with fury... "HOW DARE YOU TELL THEM THIS!!!" ...flames roaring around him...  
> Chess; runs away and hides, turning to the readers..."Hurry up and read this before Wolf burns it to ashes!"  
> Yuuri; tip-toeing towards readers, whispering..."Warning, tragic and sad chapter ahead. Yozak showed me the papers first."  
> Gwendal; sitting at desk, vein bulging in forehead as he listens to Chess's room getting burned..."Since no one else remembered, I suppose I'll say it. Disclaimer; Chess doesn't own Alice in Wonderland, Alice in the Country of Hearts, Through the Looking Glass, and fortunately for us, she doesn't own Kyo Kara Maoh. Now get out of my office so I can finish working!"

As the three young men, two far younger- at least in looks- than the third, walked along, Yuuri and jack questioned each other about magic. “So what’d you mean when you said that your magic is less human than ours?”  
“I didn’t. I said tha’ here our magic is expressed through inhuman acts.” Jack smiled, adjusting his odd top hat.  
“That seems like the same thing to me.”  
“It isn’t. Does everyone in your world have magic?”  
Yuuri hesitated, scratching his head as he did so. “Well, I actually live in two worlds, but no. Both worlds have only some, called mazoku, who can use magic.”  
Jack nodded, looking mystified. “Wonder what tha’d be like, not t’ have magic. Here, everyone has magic, the only difference bein’ how much they’ve got. Oy, in your worlds, can all of the mazoku only use their magic with th’ elements?”  
“Yeah, and they can only control one element. Can anyone here control the elements?”  
“Mm? Ah… yeah, I think. Lord Pillar of the Dimends, I suspect, can use the element of air.”  
“Does that mean he can fly?”  
Jack snorted, cackling with glee. “Th’ bug is so huge, I doubt tha’ any element other than stone would have trouble liftin’ ‘im! Trust me, if he could fly, tha’ would be th’ day th’ sun went black.”  
Yuuri frowned. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.”  
“Pal, if yer ever meet th’ bug, yez’ll understand. That is bein’ very nice indeed. Th’ man is a horror, a tyrant of large amounts.” The white-haired man began laughing again. “Large amounts! Oh, I crack myself up.”  
“Why did you call him a ‘bug’?” Wolfram asked, the first thing he had said over the past hour.  
“A cause, that’s wha’ he is. That’s what ‘is magic works as.” Peter frowned, noticing the blank looks from his companions. “It’s like what I ‘as tellin’ yez afore, about our magic. We’re all known as sommat else, like…ah, like me! I’m Peter White, the rabbit. I can run for hours wiv’out tirin’, and jump three or four times higher than most. I ‘ave better ‘earing than any ‘un, which is actually how I found yez two, seein’ as how I ‘as in th’ tunnels at th’ time.”  
“I thought your voice sounded like it was coming from the ground.” Wolfram commented, stretching his arms.  
“Yeah, I was actually headed over to th’ Dimend estate. I’ve got a few friends over there I was planin’ on talkin’ to, but this’s far more fun.” Jack smirked playfully, starting to throw a friendly arm around Yuuri’s shoulders, but was interrupted by Wolfram. He stepped between the two, scowling at both.  
“So here you name yourself after the animal that your magic gives you similar traits to?”  
“Most do, there are some who’s magic shows itself in different ways. A woman on th’ Dimend lands, one of the friends I was tellin’ yez about, has cooking magic. She has to be careful when she cooks, since if she doesn’t pay close attention then the person that eats ‘er food could keel over the next moment, or fall in love wiv the first person they see, or become murderous, so on.” Jack grimaced, unconsciously shudderings. “I ate one o’ ‘er concoctions and ended up talkin’ in rhyme for the next week. Tha' severely limited my speakin', a'couse o' my accent.”  
Yuuri grinned and Wolfram raised an eyebrow. He was about to tease the older man, when a voice spoke from above their heads.  
“Well, well. If it isn’t the bunny, hippity hopping his way into my claws.” The voice was like soft velvet, rich and just…amused, as if the person was in on a joke no one else was privy to. The person was hidden in shadows, the bare outline able to be seen on a high branch in one of the trees. “Silly rabbit, so eager to be torn to bits.”  
“Ye’d have to catch me first, and we both know yer nought but a mommy’s kitten, still mewlin’ for milk. Gotten lazy and plump, you have.” Jack spoke casually, but Wolfram noticed that he had tensed, ready to run.  
The new person chuckled darkly, the soft sound washing over the trio. “That was rude. After all, I haven’t killed you yet, even though I’ve had plenty of opportunities. Unobservant bunny, you try a good hunter’s patience. What fun is the hunt if the prey isn’t even running?”  
“Ahh, yer’ve tried aforn, yer’ve just got bad luck. But what can yer expect from a black cat, eh?”  
The voice sounded a bit peeved now. “That’s not correct. Why does everyone think that I give myself bad luck?”  
Yuuri piped up, grinning uneasily. “Isn’t the superstition that the black cat just brings bad luck to the people that it crosses?”  
“Ohhh, smart laddie. I think I like you, raven boy.” the voice smirked.  
“Hey, don’t talk like that to my fiancé!” Wolfram couldn’t help the knee-jerk response that he had developed, growling up at the shadowy figure.  
The velvet voice laughed delightedly. “Hello, now who might you be?”  
“I am Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld, and this is my fiance, the maou of Shin Makoku, Yuuri Shibuya.”  
“What an honor to meet the king raven and his loyal protector, the wolf prince.” the voice said, sounded thoughtful. However, it soon returned to its original amused tone. “In any case, returning to the subject of superstitions, I’m going to rip your feet off, Jack laddie.”  
Wolfram frowned, utterly confused. “What?”  
Jack rolled his eyes, bouncing lightly on his toes. “Really? That old threat? I thought you had a little more respect than that.”  
Wolfram turned to Yuuri, noticing that Jack was busy trading threats and insults with the figure in the tree. “What are they talking about?”  
“Back on Earth, rabbit feet are supposed to be lucky for the wearer.” Yuuri explained, flushing slightly at Wolfram’s horrified look.  
“That’s barbaric!”  
“Gotta agree wiv yer there, bud.” Jack smirked, turning momentarily toward the pair.  
In the next moment, the figure leapt from the tall tree, doing several neat flips before landing lightly on their feet in a crouch. The figure straightened slowly, and Wolfram was surprised when the person looked about the same age as Wolfram and Yuuri.  
It was a pale teenager, with very short cropped black hair, vivid blue eyes and a sleek figure. He was a striking figure in black; a collar-like choker tightly outlining his neck, a sapphire sparkling at its center, an ankle-length uniform jacket over a loose tunic and trousers, the image completed with his long light sword, a glistening blade that was currently resting against Jack’s throat.  
Wolfram was caught between feeling like the boy in front of him should be royalty because of all the black, and attacking him to defend Jack.  
The boy chuckled, an evil smirk on his delicate features. Wolfram noted with some reluctance that this boy had the same kind of beauty that he did; the point right between male and female, with the best attributes of both. A second later, the black clad boy surprised Wolfram and Yuuri by sheathing his sword and grinning widely, Jack returning his smile somewhat wryly. “What’s the score now, eighty-three to four?”  
“Tha’ sounds about right.” Jack sighed and waved in the boy’s direction. “Yuuri, Wolfram, meet Chesshire Katt.”  
“A pleasure,” the boy said, gracefully bowing to both boys.  
“Nice to meet you too.”  
“The pleasure is ours.”  
“Kitty ‘ere actually got me my job at the Hart palace.” Jack informed the pair, ruffling the younger boy’s black hair. “Yer see, this realm is split up into four main sections; th’ Hart lands, th’ Diamend lands, th’ Klub lands, and th’ Spaide lands. Th’ Hart and Diamend lands have made an alliance, with th’ Klub and Spaide’s doin’ sommat similar.”  
“Ah, basically their treaties are, don’t attack us, we won’t attack you.” Chesshire put in, his grin never faltering.  
“Maybe between the Klubs and Spaides, but the Diamends and Harts get along well.” Jack retorted.  
“True.”  
“Anyway, kitty here serves the Spaides, who are intensely disliked by the Harts. One day, we run into each other, and I happen ter mention that I was hopin’ ter work fer th’ Harts, and next thing I know, this crazy cat grabs my arm, dragging me over to the edge of the Hart territory. She shoves ‘er word in my hand, hissin’, ‘Attack me!’, so I do, her snarlin’ and growling curses my way. Turns out, the Lady Hart was due to drive by just then, and when her ladyship sees me beatin’ up one of the best swordswomen in th’ land, she hires me on the spot. I’m still not sure how Chesshire managed to snitch her sword back and get out of there while we were talkin’, though.”  
Wolfram froze. “Did you say swords _woman_?”  
Chesshire’s grin faltered, the tips of her mouth dipping downward momentarily before regaining their upward curve once more, now in a challenging smirk. “That’s right.”  
Wolfram relaxed, his confusion cleared. _I thought that something seemed odd._ Beside him, Yuuri was openly gaping, eyes wide. “What’s the matter, wimp? Never seen a girl before?” Wolfram smirked, teasing his fiancé.  
“I’m not a wimp.” Yuuri answered distractedly, then whispered, “I’ve just not really seen very many girls in pants before.”  
Yuuri jumped guiltily when the girl’s velvety chuckles rang out again. “It’s just a lot more comfortable to wear pants than a dress. Plus, I’ve found that pants are more convenient when climbing, fighting, and basically any other type of movement that you can think of. Have you ever tried to swordfight in a dress and high heels? It’s just about impossible.” She winked at them, cobalt eyes twinkling mischievously, before turning back to her conversation with Jack.  
After a few minutes, Jack informed Chesshire of Wolfram and Yuuri’s predicament, something that Wolfram wasn’t very happy about. _She seems nice enough, but telling people we come from a different world doesn’t seem wise right now._ Yuuri, on the other hand, seems to be having no such thoughts, happy to inform her of everything. Shaking his head, Wolfram fell back on his ‘little lord brat’ mask. Grabbing Yuuri by the ear, he dragged him off, snarling, “Stop flirting, you cheater!”  
“I wasn’t, I swear! Wolfram, that hurts!”  
“Oh, really? It sure looked like it to me, you were practically hanging on her every word!”  
“I was just paying attention-“  
“Liar!”  
Jack coughed loudly, calling their attention. “If yer both almost done, we can continue onwards. The Hart castle isn’t too much further.”  
As they walked, Wolfram thought of something. “If you’re wanted by the Harts, then why were you here on their lands?”  
Chesshire grinned. “Good question! Well, in addition to being a great swordswoman, an awesome climber, and an exceptional spy-“  
Jack interrupted, “And a very modest girl on top o’ it, eh?”  
“Aren’t I? In any case, I’m also a messenger for the Spaides.” Chesshire finished, holding up a letter. “I was instructed to give this to the Lady of Hart. Now I just have traveling companions!”  
About a half an hour later, they arrived at the Hart castle, to Wolframs great relief. Yuuri had been complaining about his feet and being tired for the past ten minutes, to the point where Wolfram had sincerely considered giving him a piggy-back ride just to get him to stop whining.  
Hart Castle was an impressive sight; a huge, white marble, cylindrical structure, with gold-trimmed doors and windows, and large scarlet banners. All around the castle ran a tall wall, also white marble, the gates painted red and gold. Jack waved at a pair of guards up on the wall, and the gates swung open. “Hey, White, didn’t you leave alone?” one shouted down towards the small group.  
“Wha’ can I say? It must be my natural charm!” Jack shouted back.  
As they entered the castle, Wolfram noted with slight awe, that the inside was even more impressive than the outside, crimson rugs, banners and various paintings splashing the white halls. There were still a few gold highlights, but the colors that the Harts apparently preferred were red and white.  
At the center of the building was a huge room, the doors leading into it guarded by four soldiers. All the soldiers that Wolfram had seen so far were wearing the same uniform; a gold-trimmed crimson jacket over white shirt and pants, large scarlet roses sewn over the soldier’s hearts, a number between two and ten sewn directly below the rose.  
“Would yer tell ‘er Ladyship that I’m back, and that I’ve brought guests? Oh, and that Silven brought a letter for ‘er from the Spaide estate.” Jack tossed the soldier he had been talking to a coin, and the soldier nodded, slipping inside the room. A moment later, the guard came back out, swinging the doors wide.  
Jack almost bounced in, while Chesshire’s grin faded faintly as she hesitated, but she slipped in after him. Wolfram put a hand to his sword, trying to bolster his courage, before nodding encouragingly to a nervous Yuuri, and confidently- I hope- striding in.  
The room was decorated as the rest of the castle was, making the black clad Yuuri and the blue clad Wolfram feel out of place. _I wonder where Chesshire went?_ At the far end of the room, a red carpet lead up to a throne-like ivory chair, a smaller and less conspicuous red chair to its side.  
On the red chair, a tall, awkwardly gawky man sat, seemingly all knees and elbows. Wolfram guessed that this was Lord Hart. He had short gold hair, similar to Wolfram’s own, with gentle red eyes, and a ruby stud in one ear. Lord Hart was wearing a soft white tunic, red trousers, and a sharp crimson cloak.  
Meanwhile, on the white chair, a woman sat who could be none other than the Lady Hart. She had fiery red hair that reminded Wolfram of Anissina’s, with sharp gold eyes. Lady Hart wore a long gold dress, red roses sewn around the edges, with a ruby rose necklace. “Good evening,” Lord Hart ventured, giving the group a kind smile. “Allow me to introduce us. I am Lord Kinder von Hart, and this is my wife, Lady Quil von Hart.”  
Yuuri stepped forward, his customary goofy grin in place. “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Yuuri Shibuya, and this is Wolfram von Bielefeld.”  
Lady Hart turned her gaze on Wolfram, ignoring Yuuri. “Why didn’t you announce yourself as a noble?”  
Yuuri’s grin faltered, one hand scratching his head awkwardly. “Oh, I-“  
“I wasn’t talking to you, boy.”  
Wolfram mentally snarled at her dismissive tone and words, his fury only growing as he saw Yuuri’s face flush as red as her hair. Instead of letting his temper get the better of him, he brought out his court mask, one that his mother and one particular tutor had drilled into him when Lady Celi was still the maou.  
Wolfram remembered back to when he was only fifteen, one of his most hated memories.  
_‘Now now Wolfie, you can’t yell at the nobility. A snubbed noble is as dangerous to the royalty as an army of soldiers.’ Queen Celi scolded the young prince, after he had scorched the library in his anger when one of the other noble children had insulted his mother._  
_‘But mother, he was insulting you-‘_  
_‘It doesn’t matter. They may have been behaving badly, but that is no reason for you to follow their example. We have to lead by example, that’s one of the duties of being royalty. Besides, if you anger a noble, there are many ways that they can make you suffer for it later.”_  
_‘No there aren’t. ‘ Wolfram argued, scowling. ‘I will never stand by and just let your name be dragged through the mud as long as I live! Any who try it will get the sharp end of my tongue, sword, and maryoku.’_  
Queen Celi sighed, shaking her head, and called for her current husband, his little big brother’s father. ‘Dear, I want you to take Wolfie away for the rest of the month, and teach him to behave properly in front of others.’  
_They had gone to the Weller estate, where Wolfram had expected to be taught polite nothings. Instead, the morning after they arrived, Lord Weller had taken Wolfram out into the kennels. Wolfram had never liked the Weller kennels, as the dogs were always starved animals, scars and scabs dotting their skin. The Weller guard dogs were well known for their ferocity, but few knew that they were trained to be brutal killers by any means necessary. He flinched as they passed one such means, a wall covered in whips and rods, cruel devises of pain._  
_Weller stood beside the wall, and ordered Wolfram, ‘List the proper greetings for the nobility from every province in Shin Makuko.’_  
_Wolfram had dutifully begun, running through the various gestures and phrases, as Lord Weller acted out the parts of the various nobility. He was doing better than he had expected, remembering more of the ridiculous poses than he thought he would from his tutors’ long lessons. Unfortunately, Wolfram slipped up and made a slight error, not clapping his hands as he hopped on one foot, a deadly insult in the particular country whose greeting he was trying to express._  
_‘How dare you! Your highness, my country takes this as a gesture of war. I suppose I should expect nothing less from the offspring of the cheating Lord Bielefeld and the bitch queen.’ Lord Weller sneered and huffed out a cruel laugh. ‘She even named you after her, her little Wolf.’_  
_Wolfram saw red, fire crackling to life around him. ‘Take that back!’ he yelled, his flames forming a snarling lion cub._  
_CRACK! Pain shot across Wolfram’s face, and his flames snuffed out. Lord Weller stood there, his expression disgusted, the long oak rod he had just cracked across Wolfram’s face dangling from his hand._  
_‘Shut up. If you call up your maryoku again, I’ll give you a thorough beating. After all, that’s how you break a stubborn puppy.’_  
_Wolfram had been forced to start over, but he made more and more mistakes under the pressure, which Lord Weller punished harshly, Wolfram’s pale skin covered in red stripes by the time that Weller decided to stop. Wolfram was starting to walk back to the house, when Lord Weller’s cold voice rang out behind him. ‘Just where do you think that you’re going, puppy? Until you act like a prince, I’m going to consider you as a dog. And dogs sleep out here.’_  
_Weller grabbed the collar of Wolfram’s shirt, throwing him into one of the spare kennel cages, slamming the bolt into place before exiting. Wolfram had curled into a ball at the back of the small cage after trying unsuccessfully to wedge his fingers through the inch wide holes of the cage’s front to pop the lock up._  
_By the end of the second week, Wolfram had memorized the greetings of all the different types of nobles, how to carry on polite conversation, and to ignore taunts about his mother, father, or brothers. He had also learned how to sleep after being whipped, and a much more appreciated lesson, how to use his maryoku to heal himself. Wolfram made sure that Weller had left before healing his wounds as much as he could, having no doubt that being caught would result in yet more pain._  
_The third week was spent keeping all expression off of his face and out of his voice, whether it was pain, anger or fear. If he showed any of those three emotions, Lord Weller would immediately lash him without mercy. The evening of the third week was spent coughing up blood in his cage after a particularly brutal beating._  
_The next day, Weller had dragged him out of his cage, sent him stumbling to his room, and called a healer to completely heal his wounds. When the horrified healer had finished, Weller walked outside with her, coming back in a little while later. Wolfram was lying on the bed in a towel, drained of energy and fight. He flinched when he saw Lord Weller, but due to his recent training, no emotion showed on his face._  
_‘Well done, your highness.’ Weller smiled proudly, setting clean clothes on the bed beside Wolfram. ‘I had a bath pulled for you in the other room. When you’ve cleaned up and changed, come downstairs.’_  
_Wolfram went through the motions mechanically, dully noticing that he felt better after he had bathed and was pulling on his trousers._  
_Lord Weller was patiently waiting for him downstairs as promised, a goblet of wine in one hand as he stared into the house’s fireplace. He turned as Wolfram crept down the stairs, raising the chalice in a mock salute. ‘You look like a proper princeling, your highness. Now it’s time for your daily studies.’_  
_Wolfram tensed, glancing wearily around the room his step-father lead him into, looking for the whip, rod, or staff that accompanied his ‘lessons’. To his surprise, all he saw was a small library, a table and chairs in the center of the room. ‘Sit.’ Wolfram sat in one of the chairs, still waiting for Weller to pull out some devise of torture, but all he pulled out was a book, papers, quill and a small bottle of ink. ‘Read this book on etiquette, then write a summary in three hundred words or less.’_  
_The next week had continued similarly, with the type of etiquette lessons that Wolfram was used to, mostly copying lessons out on paper then reviewing them with the teacher, in this case Weller. Wolfram’s wounds had finishing healing, and he had gotten used to eating regular meals again, having thrown up the first couple of days after each meal. This happened because Weller had neglected to feed Wolfram over the time he spent in the cage, saying, ‘-untrained dogs don’t deserve food.’_  
_The day that they headed back to Blood Pledge Castle, Weller brought the young Wolfram back out to the kennels, with the instruction, ‘Go look in the far cage.’_  
_Wolfram padded over to the last cage, empathy welling in him as he saw cage after cage of starving, half dead dogs. Peeking in the final cage, he couldn’t stop his yelp of surprise as he saw the woman who had healed him. ‘This is my last lesson for you. Never forget, if you tell anyone how I train, this can happen again.’ Weller’s icy voice was right behind him, and Wolfram scrambled to get out of his way as Weller opened the cage, the healer crawling out._  
_‘I won’t, I swear…’ the woman rasped, trying to get to her feet._  
_Weller sneered, watching her. ‘I wasn’t talking to you.’ He grabbed her by one arm, unlatching one of the larger kennel cages with several dogs inside._  
_Wolfram frowned, not understanding. Weller easily dragged the woman into the cage, the dogs cowering against the mesh walls as he relocked the door. ‘And seeing as how you seem to have a heroic streak, it won’t be you this happens to, it’ll be one of your brothers, I actually don’t care which. ATTACK!’_  
_Wolfram watched, frozen in horror, as the dogs pounced, teeth frantically ripping into the woman, her agony-filled screams choked off as one dog ripped out her throat. They fed desperately, this probably having been their first good meal in months. Wolfram fell to his knees, his body going into shock at the repulsing sight. He couldn’t even flinch as a rivulet of her blood spattered his cheek as a particularly strong dog managed to tear off the woman’s arm, sending crimson everywhere. ‘Take a minute.’ Weller said, his voice indifferent._  
_When he shut the kennel door behind him, Wolfram let his blank mask fall, his face crumpling as he wailed out the agony in his heart, the other dogs in the kennel joining in until the kennel rang with the sound. He howled until he had no more breath, punching the walls with all his might. Then he threw up, bile flowing into his old cage. When he straightened, dashing a hand across his lips, his eye fell upon a spear, one of Weller’s torturing devises._  
_He looked at the suffering dogs, misery plain in their eyes, and he felt tears welling up in his own as he stood, slowly walking across to the wall and pulling the spear down. One by one, he opened the kennel doors, quickly stabbing each hound cleanly through the throat._  
_At each cut off yelp, Wolfram felt tears flow down his cheeks, but he continued on his grim task, finishing with the dogs that had eaten the woman, leaving nothing but splatters of scarlet. They whined in fear as he entered, and his heart, already beginning to crack, snapped a little further as he saw their dead eyes lock on him, their minds focusing on one thing; food. He howled in pain as one leapt, its powerful jaws latching onto his left arm. He somehow managed to kill it, the body flopping to the ground. The other dogs abruptly changed targets, gorging themselves further on their dead sibling. Wolfram finished them off, slumping against the wall before dropping the spear and staggering out of the horrible building. He climbed numbly into the carriage, where his step-father was waiting impatiently. ‘Do you feel better after your little tantrum?’_  
_Wolfram looked up, terrified. While Weller may not like his dogs, he was sure to be furious about Wolfram’s killing them. ‘Y-you heard?’_  
_Weller laughed cruelly. ‘Of course! You were so loud, even the other dogs joined in. They, however, are apparently made of tougher stuff than you, as they settled down first.’_  
_Wolfram’s mind flooded with relief. He thought that they were still alive. ‘Let’s go!’ Weller shouted to their driver, and the carriage began to move, joggling the passengers inside around. ‘Oh, puppy? Wipe the tears and blood off of your face. And remind me to get you healed again when we reach the palace, it looks like you got too close to one of the kennels.’_  
_Ever since then, I’ve been terrified of small spaces, though fortunately I somehow managed to keep my love of dogs._  
Wolfram shuddered, pushing that memory back into a slot in the back of his mind, bringing up his most charming meaningless smile. “You have my apologies for my companion’s blunder, Lady Hart. He was merely stunned by the beauty of your castle and your face, though the latter far outshines the former. Allow me to properly introduce us.”  
He bowed, his charm never lessening an inch. “I am Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld, the son of Lady Cecelia von Spitzburg, the former maou of Shin Makuko. And this is my fiancé, King Yuuri Shibuya, the twenty-seventh maou of Shin Makuko, and brother to the next maou of Earth, Shouri Shibuya.”  
He smirked mentally as Lady Hart’s face whitened, her long red fingernails digging into her chair’s armrests. “We hate to impose, but his majesty and I were hoping to take advantage of your noted hospitality, as we seem to have gotten lost on our way to Earth.”  
“It w-would be our great honor to lodge his majesty,” Lady Hart muttered, looking like she would like nothing more than to bite their heads off.  
Lord Hart called, “Mrs. Greenleaf, would you mind coming here please?”  
A moment later, a pretty young woman in a worn red dress ran in, bobbing a deep curtsey. “Yes, your lordship?” Her voice was musical, a lovely tune of plain words.  
“Would you show our guests to our spare rooms, please?”  
“Certainly, your lordship.”  
As they were about to leave, the Lady Hart screeched, “Guards! Guards! Get in here!”  
Wolfram swiftly drew his sword and pushed Yuuri into a corner behind him as soldiers flooded the room, bristling with weapons. “My love, what are you doing?” Lord Hart asked nervously, having leapt to his feet at her cry.  
A wide evil grin spread across Lady Hart’s face, reminding Wolfram uncomfortably of Lord Weller, as she cackled, “I do believe that we’re going to get to watch an execution today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chess; bawling... "Poor doggies! I'm so sorry!"  
> Wolfram; sobbing  
> Chess; sobbing  
> Conrad;sobbing... "I'm sorry, Wolfram, I had no idea!"  
> Yozak; raising an eyebrow..."You guys know that this is just Chess's twisted imagination, right? Wolfram wasn't tortured by the Captain's dad, and he didn't kill any dogs."  
> Wolfram; fire rippling around him as he slowly stands... "That's right. DIE, EVIL WRITER!!!"  
> Chess; running away from fireballs..."I guess I'm getting flamed after all...HELP!"


	5. On the Way to Spaide Estates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, things aren't looking good for Wolfram and Yuuri. Will they escape the Hart Castle with their lives?   
> Pause for dramatic effect...  
> Probably. But read on to find out how!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wolfram; "How could you end the last chapter like that?"  
> Chess; looks confused... "Hiding from you as you chased me around with a giant fireball?"  
> Wolfram; facepalm... "No, you idiot! I hate cliffhangers, especially where Yuuri's safety is concerned."  
> Chess; looks sheepish... "Sorry."  
> Gwendal; frowns..."Why are you talking? Get back to work!"  
> Chess; snaps to attention... "Yes, sir!" ...runs off to write...  
> Lady Cheri: walks up and smiles flirtatiously at readers..."Chess doesn't own Kyo Kara Maoh, Alice in Wonderland, Alice in the Country of Hart, or Through the Looking Glass. However, she does own the peculiar land of Otherland, and all characters held within. Phew, that was quite something to remember. Did I get that right, Gwendal dear?"  
> Gwendal; "...Yes, Mother."

“What treachery is this?” Wolfram bluffed desperately, hoping that this was just a trick.   
“Oh, I do beg your forgiveness, your majesty, your highness.” The Lady Hart turned, snarling at the guards, “Idiots! Get the girl!”  
Wolfram did a little snarling of his own when the soldiers attacked him as one, him managing to hold them off for a few minutes before their sheer numbers overwhelmed him, and he was brought to his knees. “You dim-witted numbskulls! That's a boy! The girl's the one in black!” Lady Hart screeched, turning white. Wolfram was instantly released, only to have to jump back in front of Yuuri as they attacked him. “NO! THAT’S ANOTHER BOY, YOU MORONS!” Lady Hart had turned a mix of red and green, fear and anger battling for control. “Get the girl in black who’s hanging up in the rafters!”   
Wolfram helped Yuuri up, the younger boy having been knocked to the floor during the scuffle, a large growing bruise on his jaw where one of the soldiers had accidently bashed him with a spear. Wolfram called some of his maryoku to life, brushing a gentle hand over the blackening spot and watching as the area paled, returning to its normal shade of pink. “Your majesty, I am so sorry,” Lady Hart apologized, her face having decided to give up on red and green, instead returning to a pasty white.  
“Aw, it’s fine,” Yuuri assured her, flushing as the previously stuck up and cold noble groveled for his forgiveness. “Neither of us are really hurt, or are you, Wolf?” Yuuri’s concerned gaze flickered over Wolfram, scanning him from head to toe. Wolfram almost wished that the other boy was looking at him the way that some of the other men in the room were looking at him, like he was a rare delicacy that they wanted to try, instead of just inspecting for injuries.   
“I’m fine, wimp.”  
_Now I wish that the_ other _men would stop looking at me._ Wolfram sighed, knowing that neither wish was likely to come true, seeing as how Yuuri wasn’t into boys, and he had grown up with his mother’s almost ridiculously good looks, so he knew that people never stopped staring. At one point, when he was about fifty, he had intentionally let an enemy slice a long gash in his face, just to get a scar to dull his unwanted beauty. However, his soldiers had gotten him a healer when he went to sleep that night, so when he woke up, the scar was gone like it had never been. Wolfram didn’t feel like going through the pain that had accompanied the slash if there wasn’t going to be any point to it, so he had never tried that method again. Wolfram sighed again, then snapped out of his thoughts as Chesshire flipped down from the ceiling where she had been hiding.   
She drew her sword, the blade hissing softly against the sheath, and winked at Wolfram and Yuuri, her grin wide. “My turn!”   
Wolfram raised his eyebrows, impressed at her skill as she managed to deflect blows from ten soldiers, then begin attacking back, managing to knock out three of the thirty or so men attacking her before being captured, at least fifteen various weapon blades to her throat.  
“Chesshire Silven. That was rather foolish of you, strolling right into my castle, you know. But I suppose I should thank you, after all, you’ve just made my day.” Lady Hart had somewhat regained her composure, though she continued to throw quick, worried glances Yuuri’s way.  
“Oh. You’re welcome.” Chesshire responded, still grinning despite the multitude of blades threatening her.  
Lady Hart frowned, looking displeased that her prisoner was still so cheerful. Then her smile returned, a far colder smile than Chesshire’s. “We haven’t had a good execution in… well, weeks, really. It’s high time we had another, don’t you think, your majesty?” She directed her last question at Yuuri.   
The wimp predictably stammered, “Wh-what?” Wolfram’s eye twitched, then Yuuri continued, a little more impressively, “I can’t believe that you want to kill her for no reason, and without a trial!”  
“I-is that a no?” Lady Hart asked uncertainly, her frown returning full force.   
“Yes, of course!”  
“Yes, you want to execute the criminal?”  
“NO! What did she even do?”  
Lady Hart settled back into her chair, a smug smile on her face. “Well to begin with, she’s trespassing on Hart property! Any Spaide or Klub found on Hart lands is instantly executed, their hearts adding protein to the soil for my lovely roses. We are kind enough to then send the heads back to the country they came from.” Lady Hart paused, obviously expecting praise. Yuuri gagged, his face horrified.   
“How the heck is that kind?”  
“That way the family of the deceased knows what happened, and has something to bury.” Lord Hart explained, his tone apologetic.  
“That’s horrible! You just kill people for getting on your land?”  
“Well, she’s also stolen some of my prized red, gold, and white roses, along with the first tarts I ever tried cooking.” Lady Hart glared at the ever-grinning Chesshire. “She also let my poor knave take the blame. Though I must admit, where I planted his heart the most gorgeous scarlet roses popped up.” Lady Hart’s voice was dreamy now, her thoughts apparently on roses.  
“That’s not fair! I did tell you that I had taken them!” Chesshire’s grin stopped, a indignant frown replacing it.  
“In a letter that I got right after his execution!”  
“So, all you have is trespassing and theft?” Yuuri asked disbelievingly, his gaze disapproving.  
Sensing this, the noblewoman thought for a few minutes, her face lighting up. “She’s also disrupted more of my croquet games than I can count, making me look ridiculous in front of my subjects and fellow nobles.”  
Yuuri shook his head, and she continued. “That cat snuck into the laundry and dyed all of the castle clothes blue one night. It took the seamstresses weeks to get our clothes back to normal!”  
“It was a pity when they did, too. You look good in blue!” Chesshire grinned mischievously, infuriating the noble.  
“None of this is bad enough to kill her for.” Yuuri said firmly, folding his arms. “It seems like the very worst she could get would be… I dunno, maybe a fine and some time in jail?”  
Lady Hart pouted, plopping despairingly into her seat. “How about just seriously maiming the dumb cat?”  
“NO!”  
“Not so seriously maiming her?”  
“No!”  
Chesshire rolled her eyes, sharing a quick smirk with Wolfram, before calling, “Hey, your ladyship?”  
Both Yuuri and Lady Hart ignored her, continuing to argue. “Your ladyship, your majesty, hello?”  
“Hey, raven king! Lady got-a-rose-stuck-up-your-rear!”  
That managed to catch their attention, and they both stopped bickering in time to hear Wolfram chuckle at Chesshire’s spot-on nickname for Lady Hart.  
“What did you just call me?” they chorused, making Chesshire roll her sapphire eyes again.   
“Not important. What I was trying to tell you is that I came bearing a message for you, your ladyship.” Chesshire slowly reached into her uniform jacket, her movements nonthreatening, and pulled out the envelope.  
One of the soldiers grabbed the letter, trotting up to the red-clad noble. She took the letter, carefully unfolding it as though she expected it to explode. “If this explodes like the last letter your masters sent, I’ll have your heart, King or no King!” _Ah. I guess she_ was _expecting it to explode._  
It didn’t explode, though Lady Hart’s face looked like _it_ was going to as she read. “My love, are you alright?” Lord Hart asked. _Apparently the only time he talks is to ask her questions with obvious answers._  
“HOW DARE THEY?!?” The force of Lady Hart’s rage made everyone in the room except for Chesshire take a step back. Unfortunately, the guards had still been holding weapons to her throat, which meant that when they stepped forward, the blades cut into her neck, leaving small trails of crimson dripping down her neck.   
Lady Hart pushed her soldiers aside, grabbing the front of Chesshire’s jacket and slamming the teen against a nearby wall. “Why would they do this? We’ve been perfectly content the way our countries interact up until now. This is the worst news I’ve ever gotten!”  
“Are they announcing war?” Yuuri asked sympathetically. _If they are, it sounds like they have every right._   
“White, read the letter. I just can’t.” Lady Hart sobbed, letting Chesshire go and dissolving into tears, sliding to the floor.  
Both Yuuri and Wolfram stiffened in shock when Jack picked up the letter, reading the contents out loud.  
“Ahem.   
To the Lady and Lord of the Hart estates and name, greetings. We have grown weary of this continuous battle between our lands, and so propose a treaty of peace. We send our loyal servant Chesshire Silven to deliver this letter, and to return with your response.   
If she does not return within a day, alive and whole, our land will promptly attack. If you refuse, then our stalemate shall continue, but if you accept, then both lands shall prosper through peace.   
We eagerly await your reply, the Lord and Lady of the Spaide estates and name.”  
When Jack finished, Wolfram had to just stand there for a minute to let that sink in. _Jack didn’t use a single yez or yer. That’s rather odd._ Wolfram’s brain then caught up with the contents of the reading, not just the way it was read. _ARE THEY INSANE? Apparently these Spaides are as peace-crazy as Yuuri, if they’re willing to consider peace after what Lady Hart’s done._  
“This is great!” Yuuri was saying, his goofy grin on blinding. “You can finally stop killing the Spaides when they come on your property! “  
“But I liked killing them…” Lady Hart mumbled, softly enough that Yuuri didn’t hear her, still excitedly talking about how wonderful the letter was.   
“So, what’s your reply?” Chesshire asked, leaning against the wall that the noble had thrown her against.  
“I don’t know… On one hand, if I refuse, then I get the pleasure of sending the cat here back with a few cuts and slashes, and our game of red versus black can continue, but on the other hand, the people on my lands are getting a little tired of this game.” Lady Hart was still sitting on the floor, voice upset. Chesshire sighed, rolling her eyes for the umpteenth time that day, and knelt next to the conflicted noble, whispering something into her ear. “Really? You won’t change your mind?” Lady Hart’s entire being seemed to perk up, and two gold eyes looked up towards the kneeling girl.  
Chesshire shook her head. “I’m a cat of my word.” The teenager offered Lady Hart a hand up, which the much more cheerful noble accepted, pulling her to her feet.  
Lady Hart snapped her fingers. “Jack, get me a sheet of paper and a quill.”  
“At once, yer ladyship.” Jack bounded off, returning with the requested items. Lady Hart grabbed his arm, spinning him so that his back was to her.  
“Don’t move.”   
“ ’Course not, yer ladyship.”  
Lady Hart used Jack’s back as a writing surface, quickly scribbling out a letter, then blew on the ink to dry it. “Go get me an envelope.”  
Jack held up an envelope, having gotten it at the same time as the other things. “Showoff.”  
“I try, yer ladyship.”  
She folded the now-dry paper, stuffing it into the envelope. Lady Hart looked around a moment before scowling at Chesshire. “Let me see your sword.” Chesshire picked the sword up from where one of the guards had flung it, offering it tip first to Lady Hart, who shoved her left thumb tip onto the blade, hesitating only momentarily before dripping a crimson line along the envelope’s entrance, her blood congealing into an effective seal, a gold rose blooming in the center of the blood seal.  
“Here.” Lady Hart said, thrusting the envelope at Chesshire.   
“My thanks, your ladyship.”  
“Now, it’s time for you to fulfill your part.” Lady Hart said eagerly, clapping her hands in excitement.  
“As you wish.”  
Wolfram watched in complete befuddlement as Chesshire and Lady Hart left. He wasn’t the only one either, Lord Hart and Yuuri also watching the scene in bemused silence.  
When it became clear that they weren’t coming back for a while, Lord Hart ushered them into a parlor-like room, where they relaxed on red and white upholstered chairs and were served red wine and cherry tarts.  
Wolfram generously watered down Yuuri’s wine, figuring that a drunk Yuuri would probably not be a good idea. _Although I don’t know for certain, since someone has always watered Yuuri’s drinks since he first came to Shin Makuko. For all I know, Yuuri might become less of a wimp when he’s drunk._ Wolfram didn’t bother watering his own drink, knowing from experience that it took about five glasses of this type of wine to get him intoxicated. Sipping the fermented drink, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the slightly fuzzy feeling that was slipping into his head.  
About a half an hour later, Lady Hart and Chesshire walked in, Chesshire smirking as Lady Hart laughed, her head thrown back. Lord Hart almost dropped his glass, which wouldn’t have done much since it had already been drained for about the tenth time.  
“Love of my Hart,” he slurred, giggling at his poor joke, “What’ve you two been up to?”   
“Fun things!” The noble lady said happily, practically shining with pleasure.  
“More or less.” Chesshire agreed, her smirk growing into a grin, and both girls chuckled.  
After another little while of talking, Jack got permission to join Wolfram and Yuuri on their trip to the Spaide lands, and the group took off, the Lady Hart waving good-bye from the top of the wall, soldiers all around gaping at their mistress.  
A few miles down the road, Yuuri’s curiosity got the better of him. “So what did you offer Lady Hart? Whatever it was, it sure made her day.”  
Chess grinned easily, lifting the bottom of her tunic, revealing blood stained bandages wrapped around her waist. “I told her that if she agreed to the peace treaty, I’d let her torture me for a little while.”   
“WHAT?!?” both boys asked in unison, Yuuri turning pale.   
“Oh, relax, you two. My magic makes it so that pain has to be really unbearable for me to be able to actually feel it.” Chesshire frowned, reviewing her last sentence. “Ah... to put it another way, if I broke a rib, it would feel to me like it would to you if someone punched you in the ribs. A gash on my arm would end up feeling like a papercut, and getting burned feels like an extreme case of pins and needles. At least, that’s what I think it ratios out to, since I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember, and therefore can't really explain it well.” Chesshire shrugged, her grin returning.  
Yuuri wasn’t convinced. “Wolf, can you heal her?”  
“Yes.” Wolfram folded his arms, stepping in front of the black-clad girl. “Let’s see your injuries.”  
“Honestly, I’ll be fine! I heal faster than anyone else here, and I can barely feel a thing.”  
Wolfram refused to move, using his Yuuri-you-utter-wimp-just-give-up look on her. “Fine! Do as you like.”  
Chesshire pulled her shirt up halfway, unwinding the bandages one handed. Wolfram winced as he looked the wounds over; long scars that continued to weep, crimson oozing from countless slices. Other wounds striped her torso, painful-looking burns and puncture marks swirling in almost hypnotic patterns. Wolfram called his healing maryoku to hand, running a soft hand over the wounds, Chesshire hissing softly as he did so. The sound stopped as his magic healed the injuries, the lesions sealing themselves and the marks fading into the rest of Chesshire’s pale skin. Wolfram sat back, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him from using so much maryoku.  
“Well, I’m impressed,” Jack remarked, quickly darting forward to poke Chesshire in the side, but ending up on his face as she spun to her feet and yanked him off balance. Chesshire turned to Wolfram, giving him an elegant bow.   
“You have my gratitude, wolf prince.”   
Wolfram nodded, “You’re welcome.”  
Three hours later, it was beginning to get dark and they still hadn’t made it off of Hart land. “We should have asked Lady Hart for horses,” Wolfram noted.   
“Probably would have made the trip a little quicker,” Chesshire agreed.  
“Ah, stop yer whinin’. There should be a little inn up here somewhere, we can stay there fer the night, and in th’ mornin’, I’ll get us some horses.” Jack said, darting ahead before anyone could respond, returning a few minutes later. “It’s only over the hill, I’ve already placed a hold on ‘free rooms, all they ‘ad left at this hour.”   
{Chess; by ‘free, Jack means three, it just writes out weird with his accent.}  
When they got to the inn, a small, homey cottage, they separated to their rooms, Yuuri and Wolfram in one room, while Chesshire and Jack slept in the other two.  
Wolfram sighed in silent relief at not having to wear that ridiculous pink monstrocity of a nightgown, instead putting only his pants back on after his bath, slipping into bed beside Yuuri, who tittered nervously. “What, wimp?”  
“I was just thinking that I’ve never seen you in bed before without your nightgown.” Yuuri said, gaze firmly fixed on the ceiling.  
“For your information, I never wore that before in my life before you showed up.” Wolfram replied, tucking an arm behind his head as he glanced toward the other boy.  
“Really?” Yuuri’s eyes flickered toward Wolfram, interest flashing across his face before he looked away again, cheeks reddening.   
Wolfram smirked. “Wimp. You actually thought that I’ve always worn that thing?”  
“I’m not a wimp! Besides, you’ve always seemed so comfortable in it. What else was I supposed to think after that’s all I’ve ever seen you sleep in?” Yuuri’s cheeks were steadily getting redder by the minute.  
“It’s my duty to wear it, since you’ve made your preference for women clear.” Wolfram was beginning to regret this topic coming up. He turned so that his back was towards Yuuri, trying to signal through body language that he was done talking.   
“What are you talking about, Wolf?” _I’ve got no such luck, it figures._  
Wolfram sighed deeply. “When you slapped me, you signaled that you were taking the lead role in our relationship. That means that my role is to make you as comfortable as possible in our relationship.”  
_Don’t ask how, don’t ask how, don’t ask…_ “How’s that?” _Damn it._ “It seems like all you’ve done is yell at me for talking to other people.”  
“Well, for one thing, wearing that nightgown. Sleeping with a girl is more acceptable to you, so looking more feminine makes you more comfortable.   
Another thing is not pressuring you to get married. I haven’t mentioned it once.  
As for yelling at you, it keeps away the less honorable people who would try to break up our engagement by any means necessary. _Plus it has the added benefit of amusing me._ By calling you a cheater at specific times, I install an unconscious sense of awareness that activates whenever you do anything that could truly be considered cheating. There are other things that I do, but I think that those examples should suffice.”  
Yuuri shifted, and asked, “What am I supposed to do?”  
 _Seriously? You wimp! You have to wait to ask these questions when I can’t direct you to Gwendal or Mother to explain? This is more embarrassing than the first time we were on a boat together and I almost threw up on you!_  
Sighing even more heavily, Wolfram felt his face redden as he replied. “Well, you’re supposed to be more controlling of the relationship for one. It’s your duty to arrange the date of our marriage. You’re also traditionally supposed to be my ‘protector’, but in our case that would be stupid, seeing as how I have fifty odd years of training and experience than you. That’s about it. If you’re still interested when we get back, you should ask Gwendal or Günter.” _Günter would die of blood loss before he finished, and Gwendal might kill Yuuri. All things considered, I hope Yuuri asks Günter._   
Wolfram felt a hesitant arm snake around his shoulders, and stiffened in surprise as Yuuri gave him an awkward hug. “Thanks for always being there for me, Wolf.” Yuuri whispered, before turning beet red and retreating to his side of the bed, leaving an equally red Wolfram on the other side. It took him awhile before Wolfram could get to sleep after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chess; "That seemed suspiciously fluffy."  
> Wolfram; blushing..."Don't blame me, you wimp, You wrote it!"  
> Chess;"Oh, right."  
> Chess:looking at readers..."I am making an enormous and quite successful attempt to put out at least one new chapter a week, so PLEASE comment or review, or _something_ so that I know that someone is reading this."


	6. The agonies of having Fire maryoku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroic...well, heros... are on their way to the Spaide estates. What will Wolfram do when an old ailment strikes hard? Find out, if you dare...  
> BWA HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!  
> {scary music} {A loud clap of thunder} {eerie lighting casting narrator's face in creepy shadows}  
> Wolfram barges in, turns off radio, grabs the sheet of aluminum foil, and whacks Chess in the head with the flashlight. "Stop that!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I may be leaving you readers, such as you may be, on a cliff hanger. After the shortest chapter I think that I've written so far in this story. Sorry about that. Bites to be y'all. BWAHAHAHAHA!  
> Wolfram rolls his eyes and whacks Chess upside the head. "In other words, she's dragging the Kuroshitsuji and Pandora Hearts characters through her freaky imagination."   
> Oz Bezarius: Actually, the Pandora Hearts story is done." ...he frowns... "I dunno if I like it, though."  
> Ciel Phantomhive: sniffs disdainfully. "She apparently has an inability to write in character. The story that I'm in is grossly out of character."  
> Alois Trancy: grins pervertedly. "Why don't you just sic Sebastian on her?"  
> Ciel: looks at Alois."That's...actually a good idea. Sebastian!"  
> Alois: pouting. "You don't have to sound so surprised."  
> Sebastian: "Yes, my lord."  
> Ciel: "This is an order! Kill that idiot of a writer!"  
> Sebastian: "Yes, my lord."  
> Chess scribbles something, and Ciel and Alois suddenly turn into kittens. Sebastian abruptly changes targets, hearts flashing in his eyes. "Wow... this is one long header! Well, I don't-"  
> Alois interrupts, apparently still being able to talk as a kitten. "Chess doesn't own Kyo Kara Maoh,"  
> Wolfram and Yuuri: "Thank goodness!"  
> Alois: "Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass,"  
> Alice: "How curious that anyone would even think that Chess did!"  
> Alois: "Alice in the Country of Hearts,"  
> Crickets chirping...  
> Alois: "Huh. Oh, and she doesn't own Pandora Hearts-"  
> B-Rabbit: huffs impatiently. "Obviously."  
> Alois: scowling at everyone. "AND... she doesn't own Kuroshitsuji."  
> Chess: sticking her tongue out at assorted characters. "Are you done?" Assorted characters nod. "Good." Turning back to, by now, probably no readers. "Enjoy!"

Wolfram woke up early the next morning, noticing blearily that Yuuri wasn’t in bed. As he got up Wolfram blinked, seeing Yuuri sleeping upside down against the bed, drool oozing out of the side of his mouth. _Oops. I must have knocked him out of bed again._ Wolfram gently picked the other boy up, laying him on the bed before going into the restroom to freshen up.  
When he came back out, Yuuri had apparently just woken up, rubbing his obsidian eyes sleepily. “Good morning, Wolf!”  
“Morning, Yuuri.”  
A knock sounded at the door, and after Yuuri’s, “Yeah?”, it opened and Jack popped his head in.  
“Mornin’ all. Yer about ready to get goin’? Our rides ‘r out front, and the Spaide lands are gonna be at least a full days ride out from ‘ere.”  
Yuuri pouted, whining, ”But we haven’t even had breakfast yet!”  
Chesshire’s head poked in beside Jack’s, her ever cheerful grin directed at Yuuri. “Well then it’s a good thing I got some rolls from the owners of this place, isn’t it? Come on, we’re going to have a fun day today, I can just tell!”  
Wolfram walked out with Jack and Chesshire, looking at the horses. Three white horses were tied to a post out front; two stallions and a mare. All had had their manes and tails dyed crimson. _By Shinou, that Lady Hart really makes sure that she has a red and white land._ “Shouldn’t there be four horses?”  
“Nah, I can run just as fast as these beautiful beasties. T’would be a shame ter miss a nice run on a day like this.”  
Wolfram nodded, understanding the sentiment if not believing the statement. _Well, I can always share a horse with Yuuri after Jack gets tired._ He smirked, almost being able to see Yuuri’s face turn cherry red as he was forced to grab Wolfram to keep from falling off of the horse. _In fact, I’ll be looking forward to it._  
Yuuri finally walked out, and they mounted up. About three hours later, Wolfram gave up his daydream as Jack continued to keep up with the riders, barely breaking a sweat. “Wow, you have amazing stamina!” Yuuri exclaimed, still riding his own horse. “But aren’t you getting tired?”  
“Ah, I’m still good fer annuter couple o’ hours, young highness.” Jack showed off, bouncing into the air to do flips, without falling behind.  
“Call me Yuuri, please,” Yuuri asked, frowning in distress. “My godfather does the same thing, and it drives me crazy! While I wish he’d given me a different name, it’s just ridiculous that no one wants to use it!”  
“Whatever yer prefer, Yuuri.”  
After a few miles of uncomfortable silence, Chesshire stood up on the back of her horse, ignoring the fact that it was still moving. Balancing with seemingly no effort, she peered into the distance, her grin widening until it seemed like her face would split. “There it is! Spaide property.” Plopping back into her saddle, she spurred the horse into a full-out gallop, Wolfram and Yuuri following suit after a short moment of surprise.  
“How can you tell?” Yuuri asked, his voice strained. Wolfram glanced over at him and saw Yuuri sitting stiffly on his horse, absorbing every bounce. Honestly Yuuri, you would think that after living in Shin Makuko for the past few years, you would have learned how to gallop properly.   
“Don’t tense up, Yuuri, and use your stirrups. That’s what they’re there for after all.” Wolfram watched as Yuuri followed his instructions, relief visible on his fiance’s face. Yuuri turned toward him, his goofy smile grateful.  
“Thanks, Wolf.”   
Wolfram huffed, looking forward again. “I just didn’t feel like hearing your whining later.” He looked at Jack, who was dashing alongside his horse, legs swinging back and forth so quickly that they were a gray blur. “How does Chesshire know where the Spaide land begins?”  
“Tha’s easy enough,” Jack puffed, sounding out of breath. “You prob’ly can too. Look fer th’ storm clouds.”  
Wolfram frowned, the sun’s comforting rays curling around him. “Storm? It’s clear and sunny out.”  
He looked around, and then he saw it; a black smudge in the otherwise blue skies. The smear grew as they galloped towards it, and Wolfram saw that it was a huge storm, covering miles and miles of land.   
_I really hate storms._ Wolfram crossed his fingers, hoping that he wasn’t correct. “That’s the Spaide lands, isn’t it.”  
Jack nodded, making Wolfram scowl at his reins. They had caught up with Chesshire, and she overheard Wolfram. “Lord Spaide’s magic is with weather. Unfortunately, that means that the happier and healthier he is, the stronger the storm, and his lordship is usually in very good health and spirit.”  
Wolfram’s scowl only grew. Having such powerful maryoku as he did came with a price. Not only was Wolfram twice as susceptible to esoteric influence, but whenever he was soaked in cold water or was around a storm, he felt sore all over and had to suffer through horrible headaches.   
It had been even worse when he had just begun to learn how to control his powers as a young child. Whenever storms came, he would invariably be racked with pain, his little form shaking from the stress, and Wolfram could remember refusing to leave his room because he was crying over the agony. When that happened, his two brothers would come in and sit next to him on the bed; Conrad holding his hand, letting little Wolfram squeeze as hard as he needed to when a new wave of anguish washed over him, Gwendal steadily knitting an animal of some kind, cobalt eyes distressed at his little brother’s whimpers of pain, the knitting needles clicking providing something for Wolfram to concentrate on. By the end of the storm, a sweat-soaked Wolfram would have been lulled to sleep, an older brother on either side and a new stuffed animal tucked into his arms.  
As they drew closer to the Spaide estate, Wolfram’s head was beginning to feel a little sore, every bounce sending a small stinging vibration through his cranium. Brushing it off, he concentrated on keeping his horse steady beside Yuuri. Wolfram was so absorbed in keeping his mind off of his growing headache, he yelped in surprise as a handful of icy rain droplets dripped down his collar.  
“Don’t yer just love Spaide weather?” Jack called back sarcastically, his voice overpowered by a roaring growl of thunder. A blue flash slithered snake-like through the gray clouds, the lightning vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.  
Chesshire’s horse screamed in fright, ignoring the complaints of his rider as he zipping back towards the bright Hartlands. Wolfram quickly sized up the situation, leaping off of his horse as it was about to follow Chesshire’s, and watched in horror as Yuuri’s horse threw him, the raven-haired boy flying through the air. Wolfram rushed forward, somehow managing to catch the young maou before he smashed into the muddy ground, grunting with the effort. “Yuuri! Are you okay?”  
Yuuri nodded. “Thanks to you.”  
Wolfram helped Yuuri get to his feet, grabbing him when Yuuri’s legs collapsed. “Sorry,” Yuuri apologized, his face red as Wolfram released him. “I guess I was still a little shaky.”  
“WHOA!” Chesshire followed her voice, soaring toward the small group, her flight interrupted by a tree. “Owwww…” Chesshire stood up, wincing as she stretched. “I guess we should have let the Hart horses go before entering Spaide property, huh?” She chuckled sheepishly as everyone nodded in unison. “Sorry.”  
About two hours later, the entire group was soaked to the bone and shivering miserably. The few small buildings that they had come across had been abandoned, probably due to the fact that they were half-annihilated; huge chunks missing in the walls, ceilings and floors. “W-w-we sh-should b-be just ab-bout there,” Chesshire shouted above the howling wind and pelting rain, the others having to strain to hear her. _It’s about time, too._  
Wolfram tightened his hold on Yuuri’s hand, sending a burst of warmth through their clasped hands. A while back, he had noticed Yuuri was trembling and had taken his hand. Of course Yuuri, being the wimp that he was, had turned beet red and had tried to take his hand back, but Wolfram had refused to relinquish his hold. After a moment Yuuri had given up, and that was when Wolfram had sent a wave of heat rushing into his fiance’s shivering form. The look of awed gratitude had been more than worth the secondary shock of cold that Wolfram had had to endure. Wolfram had been keeping his use of maryoku to a minimum for the last little while, knowing that even he had very definite limits on how much magic he could use before passing out.  
“Hey! We’re here!” Chesshire yelled, pointing to something a few yards ahead of them. Wolfram squinted, the downpour so heavy that even something that close was hard to see. A well timed streak of lightning lit up the black, outlining the form of a large castle; twisted towers slashing through the air in blade-shaped turrets, bulging out from a monstrosity of a castle, sharp edges and jagged points seeming to be the main focus of the builder. An ominous crash of thunder shattered the night. _Is it night? I can’t tell here._  
Chesshire staggered to the gates, yanking a rope by the huge front gate. After a few minutes, a small door to one side of the gate opened, Chesshire leading the way inside, the silence sudden and deafening as the door closed.  
“Hey hey, look who it is! The pretty kitty, and the dumb rabbit.” The voice came from a young man who looked like Jack’s identical twin, just in different colors. Instead of white hair, he had brown, instead of copper eyes, he had green, and instead of a red and white outfit, he had a green and black one. Also, where Jack had a gold rose pin holding his cravat on, this man had a wooden emblem of crossed swords under a shield.  
“Hey hey!” Jack scowled, mimicking the other man perfectly. “It’s the jerk hare!”  
“Now who might you lads be? I don’t think that I’ve seen you around before.” The man grinned disarmingly at the shivering group, completely ignoring Jack.  
“King Yuuri Shibuya, Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld, meet John March.” Chesshire said, teeth chattering as she gestured to each person she introduced.  
John knelt, kissing Yuuri’s hand with a roguish wink. “It is my honor to meet you, your majesty.”  
Wolfram growled warningly, already feeling bad enough from his throbbing headache without watching his fiancé inadvertently flirting with a charismatic stranger. Yuuri paled, pulling his hand away and stepping back quickly. “Um… It’s nice to meet you too.” John looked disappointed for a minute, then turned his attention to Wolfram.   
“My goodness, my eyes have never seen a vision as lovely as you, your Excellency.”   
Wolfram frowned, having heard that particular line many times before back in Shin Makuko. “I believe that Chesshire failed to mention something when she introduced us.”  
John smirked steamily, his green eyes eerily similar to Wolfram’s own. “And what might that be, Excellency?”  
Yuuri smiled sheepishly, combing his fingers through his hair. “Wolf and I are engaged.”  
John abruptly straightened, his face flushing as he stepped back. “M-my apologies. I meant no disrespect.”  
Jack guffawed, slapping John’s shoulder playfully. “Yer gettin’ slow in yer elderliness, John. Flirtin’ with royal fiancés at th’ same time, nice.”   
Yuuri grinned weakly, then toppled over in a dead faint. Wolfram caught the other boy as he fell, picking him up easily. “Yuuri?” Wolfram whitened as he felt how cold the black-clad boy was, almost feeling like he was holding a melting ice sculpture.   
“Come on, I’ll show you to a spare room.” Chesshire quickly trotted through dimly-lit rooms and passages, Wolfram on her heels. “How’s this?”  
Wolfram barely glanced around the large room that Chesshire had just entered, gently laying Yuuri on the bed. “Thank you.”  
“Not at all.” Chesshire bowed slightly then left, the door clicking quietly behind her. Wolfram turned back to Yuuri, calling his healing maryoku to hand. After about five minutes of slightly strained healing, a polite knock sounded at the door. Wolfram staggered over to the door, Chesshire on the other side with two sets of clothes. “My masters send these with their hope that his majesty will be feeling better soon.”  
Wolfram smiled wearily, nodding his thanks. “Thank you again, Chesshire.”   
When Wolfram returned to the bed, Yuuri had woken back up and was weakly attempting to get up. “Relax, Yuuri.”   
“Wolf?”   
“Yes, I’m right here. Where else could I be?” Wolfram helped a feeble Yuuri out of his wet clothes and into the loose cotton clothes that Chesshire had brought. He then made up a warm, crackling fire in the room’s fireplace, setting Yuuri beside it before changing his own clothes, the soft cotton feeling heavenly against his skin.  
“Are you sure that you’re alright Yuuri?” Yuuri had been insisting that he was, but Wolfram wasn’t convinced.   
“I was just a little cold, that’s all.”  
“A little cold? Yuuri, you were practically an icicle for Shinou’s sake! That’s not a ‘little cold’.”  
“Calm down, Wolfram!” Yuuri pleaded, and Wolfram could feel his heart slowing down, his temper vanishing at Yuuri’s unwitting command. Yuuri rested a worried hand on his shoulder, black eyes wide.   
“Whatever. If you freeze, don’t complain to me.” Wolfram stormed over to a chair, sitting down with a sigh. _Huh. This is the first time all day that I’ve been able to relax._ Then, the consequence of using as much maryoku as he had, in the middle of one of the worst storms he had ever experienced, caught up with him. In his mind, it felt like a heavy fog, the pressure crushing his will to move as pain shot through his muscles. At the same time, his head throbbed violently, harder and harder, until it felt like his head was going to cave in. Wolfram whimpered against his will as agony slashed and stabbed its way through his body, his fire magic flickering dully against the cold dampness of the thunderstorm’s atmosphere.  
“Wolf, are you okay?”  
“I’m fine, wimp. I’m going to go take a b-bath.” Wolfram mentally cursed as his voice broke at the last word. _Maybe he didn’t notice._  
“Oh. Okay.” _I'm amazed, my luck actually exists!_ “Do you want some company?” _Never mind._  
“No, if you don’t mind I’d prefer to bathe alone. You can go first though.”  
“Oh… no, that’s okay. You go ahead.”  
Wolfram stumbled briefly on his way to the bathroom, but Yuuri had either not seen it, or had chosen not to comment. _Either way is fine with me._   
Just as he was about to enter the other room, a particularly agonizing wave of pain ripped through his being, sending him crashing to the floor, torturous convulsions wracking his lean frame. The last thing he saw before his vision went red was Yuuri’s terrified face. Then he was lost in the misery that was the most powerful fire mazoku in the lands being stuck in his opposing element.   
“Wolfram!” _Crap, this is going to really suck explaining this to him when I’m able to talk._ Wolfram gasped, body stiffening momentarily. _He’ll probably blame himself, the soft wimp._ “Someone, help, please!” _Damn it, these episodes are embarrassing enough without everyone in the castle seeing me like this!_ “Wolfram, just hold on, please!” _To be perfectly honest, I’m wishing that I would lose consciousness a little quicker._   
Wolfram’s wish was answered, and the young mazuko fell into the oblivion of slumber with a relieved sigh, his body relaxing into the arms of the panicking maou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun DUUUUUUUN!!!!  
> Chess cackles evilly, rubbing hands together in glee.  
> Wolfram is scowling at Chess, while Yuuri is sitting on the edge of his seat, fingernails chewed down to the nub.  
> Chess: "That's all for now, folks! I'll work on having another chapter out by the end of the week, but seeing as I'm starting a Kuroshitsuji story, I may not get it done. Sorry if I don't."  
> Yuuri; "NOOOOOOOOOO!"  
> Wolfram: scoffs. "Wimp, if anyone should be upset about this, its me!"


	7. The Spaide Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff. Pretty much all fluff. There might be something relevant in here, but I don't think so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chess; waving with a silly grin... "Hey! I'm only...four days over my week limit! And I hadn't even expected to have another chapter for another week or so!"  
> Yuuri; "Yaaaaay!"  
> Chess; confused, looking around... "Where's Wolfram?"  
> Yuuri; pouting sadly... "I dunno, I haven't seen him for a little over a week now. It was kinda neat for the first few days, but now the castle's just kinda cold without Wolf throwing fireballs all over the place..."  
> Chess; looking worried... "Oh dear, I guess I should see if he's okay or not..."

Wolfram cracked open his eyes, wincing at the instant stab of pain that cracked over his prone body. He had somehow gotten from the floor to the bed, a sleeping Yuuri slumped against the headboard next to him. Wolfram smirked, rolling out of the heavy blankets that had been tightly wrapped around him, sliding softly out of the bed to add a log to the fire. He had apparently been unconscious long enough for it to have almost burned out, all that remained being a few glowing embers. When the fire was restored to a crackling blaze, Wolfram pulled the covers over Yuuri, giving his snoring figure a soft smile.  
“He was really worried about you.” Chesshire’s velvet voice surprised Wolfram, and he spun to see Chesshire, Jack and John standing in the doorway.   
“We all were, bud.” Jack agreed, his normally mischievous face solemn for once.  
Wolfram scowled, rubbing a hand over his face wearily. “I’m fine,” he snapped shortly, hating the pity in their eyes. “That’s just something that happens to me when I get in a storm.”   
“Why might that be, your excellency? If you don’t mind me asking.” John’s head tipped to one side, eyes inquisitive.   
Wolfram growled, calling a much smaller than usual version of his fire lion. He sent it after the group at the door, causing a small rush. Jack merely stepped aside, having seen Wolfram use his magic before, Chesshire gasped, her face whitening to a bone white as she faltered back a step, and John fainted, almost comically stiffening and falling back. Wolfram instantly snuffed his flames out, on his feet in a minute.   
Chesshire smirked, her face regaining its normal pallid complexion, and waved a hand dismissively at John. “Ah, he’ll be fine. The only thing that’s hurt is going to be his pride, and that needs a severe beating anyhow. So, being around so much of an opposing element messes with your health, hmm?”  
Wolfram blinked, surprised that his maryoku had been accepted so quickly after the way that they had acted, and that Chesshire had instantly understood his problem. “Y-yeah.”  
Chesshire grinned cheerfully, winking mischievously at him. “The young mistress and master have similar problems. The young master is unable to bear being without a hound of some kind at his side at all times, as his magic is expressed through dogs, and the young mistress gets violently ill and delirious under prolonged intense direct light, her magic being expressed through shadows. The Spaide household has very pure and powerful magic, which in its own way, makes them weak.” Her grin faded, and she gave Wolfram a brief frown. “You should have just said something.”  
“Why? It fades to a bearable level after the first while, so there was no need to give you my troubles.” Feeling a slash of pain run up his spine, he blurted, “After all, we’re practically strangers.” The instant he said it, he wished he could take it back, a look of pain entering both Chesshire and Jack’s eyes.  
Chesshire’s frown turned into a full-out scowl, then her expression shifted to a polite smile. “Of course, your excellency. I do beg your pardon for taking up your time. If you will excuse me.” She stalked back down the hall, leaving a frosty silence behind.   
Jack rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeesh. It really takes sommat to get kitty riled. Don’t worry, Chessy’ll get over it quick, it i’nt in ‘er nature ter stay angry long.”  
Wolfram sighed, feeling his headache swell to a new level of agony, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t mean what I said,” he confessed, flopping back in a chair. Finally remembering his manners, he gestured toward another chair. “Please, come in.”  
Jack stepped over John’s prone body with a grin, then settled into the offered chair with a contented sigh. “I know tha’, and kitty out there knows it too. Just give her a while. When she gets ticked, she can get as hot as yer flames.”  
“Oooh…” John moaned, finally waking up. He sat up, his eyes flicking to Wolfram and Jack before his face promptly turned cherry red and with a murmured, “Excuse me,” he sprinted down the hall.  
Wolfram and Jack looked at each other, then burst out laughing. “What was his problem?”   
“He can’t take surprises. Even jumping out from behind a corner and yellin’ ‘boo’ will knock ‘im out. It’s amazin’ really, how stuck-up ‘e is considerin’ ‘ow easy it is ter make ‘im faint like an old lady.” Jack cackled evilly, his copper eyes twinkling.  
“Why do you work for Lady Hart?” Wolfram asked, genuinely curious.  
Jack paused, a soft smile on his lips. “In a way, it’s like the way that yer in love wiv yonder snoozin’ king. We both know in our minds tha’ it isn’t smart, but our ‘earts force us onward. I’ve seen th’ side of the Lady Hart that wants nuttin’ more than ter keep ‘er people safe, no matter what. The side that yer saw, the one that lusts fer blood, that’s not really ‘er. Th’ executions never go through, otherwise th’ Spaide’s would never have offered a truce. She intentionally ‘ad me build a prison fer th’ Spaide people that was easy ter get out of, and if they ‘as honorable enough ter stay in th’ prison, Lord Hart allus found some reason ter release ‘em.”  
Jack stopped, frowning. “Unfortunately, magic ‘ere allus comes wiv a price o’ some sort, even th’ kind o’ magic that comes natural-like. Fer th’ Spaides, they get weak wivout th’ source o’ their magic, or wiv the opposite o’ their magic, kinda like yer did. All animal magic, like me’n Chessy ‘ave, ‘as some sort o’ physical binder attached. Fer Lady Hart, she has an obsession wiv blood. She keeps it hidden fer th’ most part, but some days, after usin’ too much magic, she ‘as a… meltdown. When that happens, someone ends up bleedin’, whether it’s herself or some passin’ unfortunate. Even th’ Lord Hart wasn’t immune.” Jack looked down, obviously uncomfortable.   
“You were the unfortunate at least once, weren’t you.” Wolfram’s question came out as more of a statement, his tone solemn.  
“Yeah. Th’ thing was, when she whipped out ‘er blade, her eyes were blank. And later, when her fit passed, she looked at me, horrified-like, and apologized. Th’ Lady Hart hates apologizin’, but she did anyway…” Jack shuddered, tears in his eyes, and Wolfram tactfully changed the subject.   
“What did you mean when you said that animal magic users had a physical binder?”  
Jack perked up again. “There’s always some object that means a great deal to the animalistic owner, and it can change over time, though tha’ doesn’t happen often. A bit o’ the owner’s magic and…I dunno how to put it exactly, a bit o’ their bein’, goes into th’ object, and from then until th’ object changes, whoever owns th’ object controls th’ animal magic user. Mine is a pocket watch, sommat that belonged to my family fer ages.”  
Wolfram gaped slightly, asking, “Isn’t it kind of dangerous to tell me that?”  
Jack cracked up again, patting Wolfram on the shoulder. “I like yer, bud. There are three things that make it so I ken tell yer that. First, yer are one of th’ most decent buds in th’ realm, most o’ th’ rest residin’ in this castle. Second, the only way that you or anyone else could get ahold o’ my bond is if I gave it t’ yer, one o’ th’ nicer things about that particular magic. And third, I’ve seen enough o’ yer two ter see that yer would never do anythin’ ter upset Yuuri, and that the form of enslavement that I would be forced inter if yer did that would definitely upset th’ boy, bless ‘is kind heart.”  
Wolfram smiled at Yuuri’s sleeping form on the bed, feeling himself relax almost unconsciously at the very mention of his fiancé.  
Jack gave him a soft smile, very different from his normal expression. “Don’t yer worry, I think yonder boy has stronger feelings for yer than ‘e lets on.”  
Wolfram snorted, his disbelief clear. “Yeah, he has feelings for me, and Chesshire throws temper tantrums.”  
Jack grinned, jumping to his feet, pulling Wolfram after him as he sprinted down the hall. “Shh.” Jack shushed Wolfram as they approached a door a few corridors down. It was slightly ajar, light glowing out into the hall as destructive noises came from within.  
The two boys crept to the door, peeking inside. Wolfram’s emerald eyes widened in shock, almost yelping before Jack slapped a hand over his mouth.  
Inside the room, an ice eyed Chesshire was annihilating a small army of wooden dummies, at first slicing through limbs with her sword but quickly losing interest, dropping her weapon into its sheath.   
Chesshire then picked up a knife from a table, one of several dozen there, and threw it at a dummy, the blade sinking a good three inches into the wood.   
She continued on to hurl another ten or so daggers, her aim dead-on each time. Chesshire’s roar the one time she missed was furious, the seething teen stalking over to the fallen blade, grabbing it in both hands and straining. Wolfram winced in sympathy as blood seeped from the hand clenched around the blade, trying to go in to help but being stopped by Jack. A loud snap sounded, and Wolfram’s eyes bugged out as he saw that she had managed to snap the metal dagger in half, throwing the pieces to one side in disgust.  
Wolfram breathed a silent sigh of relief when it seemed like she was calming down. Just then was when Chesshire smashed a fist through one dummy’s chest, wood splinters flying everywhere. She pulled her fist back out, inspecting the blood oozing from her knuckles disinterestedly, before moving on to the next one, then the next one, and the one after that… Wolfram heard something crack as Chesshire hissed, cradling her now-broken hand. She chuckled darkly, popping her bones back into place before wrapping them in a roll of gauze she pulled out of a pocket. _She was expecting to break something._  
Jack tugged at his shoulder, silently nodding back towards the room that Yuuri was in. When they had returned, Wolfram turned to demand, “Why didn’t you let me help?”   
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Fer one, bud, she already told yer that she heals quickly. By tomorrow her hand’ll probably be just fine. The other reason was that I didn’t want you ter end up like those dummies she was beatin’ up on. The only reason I showed yer that was to show yer that Chessy does have tantrums, of a sort.”  
Wolfram frowned, confused. Jack grinned, a twinkle in his eyes. “Yer said that yonder boy likin’ yer back was as likely as kitty havin’ a tantrum.” He patted Wolfram on the shoulder, winking one copper eye. “‘Night, sleep tight, and watch out fer mosquitoes. Unfortunately, they’re pretty common here, due ter all th’ water. Blood suckin’ parasites are worse than th’ Bug.” Jack muttered this last line as he bounded down the hall, waving good-night.   
Wolfram didn’t even bother to remove his shirt tonight, just lay down as he was, dropping off to sleep almost before his head hit the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wolfram; scornfully singing Yuuri's pants..."I just wasn't written into the beginning notes, you wimp!"  
> Yuuri; running away and hiding..."I'm sorry I was worried about you, alright?!"  
> Wolfram; smirking and blowing the smoke off of his fingers... "That's right, you coward! Run!" Wolfram's eyes bug out... "Wait, what did you just say?"  
> Chess; watching this going on from the screen of laptop... "Awww..." turns to readers... "Hey, I apologize in advance if my next chapter takes forever, but I have a very, very, VERY big english project that needs to be completed before June... And I'm not anywhere near done yet!" Terrified look on face... "I can't mess this up, but I've only got ONE MONTH to write, edit, and get a book out to publishers! SCARY STUFF! Anyhow, like I said, sorry if the next chapter takes a while. Till next time!" waves cheerfully...


End file.
